Only a few people think that the Knight family’s immediate plans will be bad for the neighborhood. This isn’t the big issue, its a red herring. The question is about what happens in the day that the Knight’s no longer own it. Whether in 100 days or 100 years, the day when any one family ceases to own a particular piece of property is out there. As Water Hill is increasingly perceived as a “Cool” neighborhood, it is inevitable that commercial interests will seek to exploit the zoning of this property to the max. That’s the real issue.

Commercial creep is the correct description. Again, the issue is not the Knight family, or its immediate plans. These topics are just a distraction from the real issue, which is what would be allowed on the site after this request for re-zoning.

Similarly, fear over “The Poor” moving into a flood plain on the site is also a red herring. While apparently there is some controversy over whether or not this site actually is in the floodplain, the idea that attractive housing that fit in with the neighborhood on that site would become low-income housing is absurd. 25 or 30 years ago, you might have been able to make the case that low-income families still remained in lower-lying parts of town, but even then you would have been hard pressed to find new low-income families moving in (transient undergraduates, perhaps).

It doesn’t strike me that someone who has lived “in the neighborhood”, but has not been in the store for “25 years”, could have enough familiarity to have much of substance to say about this part of the neighborhood, period.

Given our experience with German Town, this government and its allies may not in a position to be fully trusted when its representatives and friends speak about preserving the neighborhood’s integrity. Councilmember Derezinski’s answer to his own question “Is it enough to prevent leapfrogging up the street?” is “On these decisions, you do the best you can, he said. Encroachment does happen…” is effectively the announcement that Water Hill is now in play (“But only a little bit, just at the bottom of Spring. Nothing more…”)

Bad government does happen. Let’s find a way to let the Knight’s bake away, while preventing “Encroachment does happen” from happening.

There are many things we love about our neighborhood. Knight’s and Big City Bakery are two of them. The Knight family’s plans will only add to the quality of where we live. They are part of our community, not some corporate monster that wants to take over our neighborhood.

I hope that Cmr. Bona revisits it. It has undergone many changes in the last couple of years, including updated lighting, new fixtures and a modestly landscaped entrance. She may be letting her architect’s sensibility influence her perception of “welcoming” (the lack of signage and windows) but the experience should change her mind.