We heard Eric Mahler bring up “security” when he was on the RFP advisory committee for the Library Lot. This is a code word he uses for the homeless. Bonnie Bona repeatedly pushes for more intense development, regardless of the situation. There are other examples. In addition, Kirk Westphal’s action on this was doubtless colored by the fact that he was on the committee devising the plan.

My view of the role of planning commissioners is that they should serve as adjudicators of planning decisions, based on plans that have been approved by the City Council after the full array of community-based review. They should not be advocates who make arbitrary decisions based on their own personal visions.

In this case, Council had never been given an opportunity to respond formally to a report which they themselves commissioned. Evidently the response of Council at a working session was cool to the report. This action appears to have been an end-run around Council.

This action of adding the CWS report to planning documents at the last minute, without a properly noticed public hearing, without any past indication that such an action was contemplated, and in addition to the biases shown by individual commissioners, casts a dubious light on the very integrity of the Planning Commission and the city’s planning organization.

My heartfelt thanks to Commissioner Wendy Woods for her courage in going against the current on this and other recent issues. She certainly has the long experience in city government to lend credibility to her conclusions.

Here is a more complete critique of the Connecting William Street process and a more accurate representation of the alternative proposed by the Library Green Conservancy: [link to .pdf]

The Library Green folks are hopeful that the Parks Advisory Commission will be able to look at the need and potential for downtown open space more objectively than the DDA.

They are fully empowered to right the ship and they should do so.

As I recall the A2D2 deliberations by Council, neighbors spoke slowly in short sentences comprised of easily understood vocabulary to explain the terrible consequences of approving D-1 zoning for the 413 E. Huron property. For those incapable of understanding plain English, one neighbor provided a scale drawing of what could be built on D-1 property compared to the two-story homes to the immediate north.

No one should argue that Council, or the public for that matter, misunderstood what could be built on the 413 E. Huron property when Council approved the A2D2 zoning changes. It is incomprehensible for Mr. Clein to assert that the 413 E. Huron disaster was caused by some kind of misunderstanding.

Looking at the meeting agenda in the days prior to the meeting, I understood the Commission intent to be that it would consider adopting the CWS recommendations as part of the Master Plan. That effort, of course, would not have majority support on Council and therefore could lead a citizen to believe that attendance at the Commission meeting was unnecessary.

Instead of pursuing that pointless goal, the Commission announced for the first time at its meeting that it would adopt the CWS recommendations as an official resource document for planners to rely upon in the future. The agenda did not reveal this intended course of action and thus, citizens were denied the opportunity to attend and speak on the use of this report as a basis for future planning efforts.

The Planning Commission needs to revoke its prior improper actions regarding the CWS recommendations and properly provide advance notice of a public hearing on the adoption of the CWS plan as an official planning document.