Thanks, Ray.
Sounds like Barry did what he should have done and neighbors who were
concerned about the project did what they should have done.
I'm sorry I missed the meeting -- I had a Home School Ass'n meeting
conflict and family comes first.
I'm no whiz on zoning. What I have learned over the years is that it's a
multi-step process, and the bigger the project, the more the steps.
Calling one step "public" and another event "non-public" tends to miss
the point, except within certain restricted legal parameters. My
instinct is to let the lawyers duke that one out before Hizzoner. It's
not up to laymen to decide what is or is not "public" in these contexts
and their opinions, no matter how vociferous, will not ultimately sway
the court.
Someone does have to make a judgement call as to who or what the
"community" is. Even with that done, public "input" should not be
confused with public "decision-making". Development of privately-owned
land is regulated by the City but it is not an electoral process; the
job of ZBA is not to reflect slavishly whatever the community wants, but
to integrate community concerns with a host of other rights.
Doesn't mean the community won't be listened to. But the working out of
this listening is more of a political process, and only 5% of politics
takes place in "public".
In the end, the only persons who can cast decisive votes on this or any
other zoning matter are the ZBA Members. Nobody on UC-list, neither Tom
nor Glenn, certainly not I, gets to pull the lever on this one. If
you're looking for a public occasion on which to cast your binding vote,
the primary will be on Apr. 22. Make sure you're registered.
If you want to cast a binding vote in a community Association's
decision-making process, follow the same procedure. Stay alert for its
next election and make sure you're registered.
-- Tony West
UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN wrote:
barry's original announcement for this meeting stated:
"Neighbors will have a full opportunity to ask questions
and offer comments about the project, and the committee
will take all comments into consideration in its
deliberations."
his announcement added:
"I will contact by phone those immediate neighbors whose
e-mail addresses I do not have, but please feel free to
share this information with anyone who might be
interested."
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