INC NEWS - perhaps this issue is a different one...

[RW Pickle]

Bill's right, Ray didn't say he thought the rezoning would be approved. It
was citizens like the rest of us who felt their voices went on deaf ears.
The fact that anyone feels that something will be approved when our PC has
voted 10-1 against speaks volumes on our confidence level of the system
working.

And as Melissa states, and I know others concur, BOCC, CC, PC, JCCPC and
the post-Frank-Duke planning department are all very helpful. To think
that any of them are "in bed" with the developers is just wrong. As I am
down at the Planning Department frequently, I often see other citizens
there as well, checking up on some proposed new development or rezoning.
They are and have been always helpful. So what it seems like to me it
boils down to is getting neighborhoods organized. With that event alone,
many of the issues we have talked about in these many emails would be
resolved. And letting our elected officials know that the PC speaks for
all of us, and what they recommend is in our best interest, may be the
route we have to go. After all, it hasn't ever mattered what anyone says,
wants, or believes when it comes down to them voting. They can decide the
issue the way they see fit. And if all this citizen input is for nought,
why do we bother giving it? We have a to have an elected body that
understands that it's the citizens who really run the show and they work
for our common good.

I still think a NA is yet another layer of bureaucracy we don't need.
Stronger neighborhoods and neighborhood organizations would be much more
efficient. At least that way, there is always an organization with a point
of contact.

RWP
27 Beverly

> Thanks, Bill. Didn't mean to sound nasty or anything.
> All gov't officials (BOCC, CC and post-Frank-Duke
> planning department) have been very receptive to my
> neighbors' and my concerns, which have resulted (in
> part) to ordinance amendments. And the JCCPC, planning
> department and PC have worked very hard and have been
> very thorough in their review of the conservation
> subdivision amendments on which the PC will vote at
> their next meeting.
>
> Don't want to sound like I'm lynching our elected
> officials...I've just had my fair share of complaining
> from residents who feel that they should be able to
> count on the gov't following the PC's lead, rather
> than having to trek downtown to make their concerns
> heard. Albeit, southern Durham doesn't have the best
> reputation for voicing their concerns (but we're
> trying to change that).
>
> Melissa
>
> --- TheOcean1 at aol.com wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> Hold on a second.
>>
>> Our elected officials shouldn't be lynched quite
>> yet!
>>
>> Melissa and Randy are talking like they've already
>> voted against the
>> citizens.
>>
>> Randy said "But the article went on to say that City
>> Council would probably
>> approve it..."
>> That's not exactly accurate, I went down to the
>> recycle bin,  and here's
>> exactly what Ray Gronberg wrote,
>>
>> "...project critics like Leyburn Place resident Ann
>> Goodwin and Omah Street
>> resident Laura Suski SUSPECT the council will
>> approve it"
>>
>> Perhaps Laura and Ann are wrong.
>>
>> I just think we shouldn't grab our pitch forks and
>> be too angry at our City
>> Council, based on what these two citizens suspect
>> will happen.
>>
>> Bill Anderson
>>
>> In a message dated 5/19/2008 1:58:54 P.M. Eastern
>> Daylight Time,
>> mmr121570 at yahoo.com writes:
>>
>> Well  said, Randy. Over the years, there have been
>> numerous such cases down here  in Rural/Suburban
>> South
>> Durham, where the PC overwhelmingly voted against
>> and
>> the governing bodies approved anyway...to the point
>> that members of  my neighborhood listserv quite
>> literally couldn't believe the facts that  I
>> presented....they said, 'what do we have a Planning
>> commission for, if  we citizens then have to truck
>> up
>> to City Hall in order to hope to be  heard...and
>> even
>> then it's just a hope.'
>>
>> It's often argued that the  gov't can't legally vote
>> against a development for one reason or  another.
>> That's when I say, 'change the local ordinances to
>> reflect real  citizens' concerns.'
>>
>> Melissa
>>
>> --- RW Pickle  <randy at 27beverly.com> wrote:
>>
>> > Reading in todays Herald Sun, I  saw where City
>> > Council will be voting
>> > tonight on a new  development in the Hillandale
>> Road
>> > area. In it, the
>> > article  stated that the Planning Commission
>> (that's
>> > the citizen folks  we
>> > keep talking about in these development equasions
>> in
>> >  wanting a NA or
>> > something else to get our voices heard) had  voted
>> > 10-1 in favor of
>> > REJECTING the development proposal. But  the
>> article
>> > went on to say that
>> > City Council would probably  approve it...
>> >
>> > Well, it seems to me that our elected  officials
>> > really are the ones who
>> > are at fault here if they do  not listen to those
>> in
>> > our community who are
>> > charged with  dealing with development issues as
>> the
>> > Planning Commission
>> > is.  And as it is with every decision made it
>> seems,
>> > regardless of what  is
>> > suggested, Council always has the last say and can
>> > vote it  either way
>> > regardless of the recommendations of the citizens
>> >  who work tirelessly to
>> > make those recommendations. I can't see how
>> having a
>> > NA (or what ever they
>> > would be called) could trump  what ends up being
>> the
>> > ultimate decision that
>> > Council, and  Council only, has the power to make.
>> If
>> > they don't want to
>> >  listen to the Planning Commission, to whom do you
>> > think they'll  listen?
>> > It's not like a 10-1 vote by them was a decision
>> > that  one could read any
>> > other way but to reject the plan. It's not like  a
>> > 6-5 vote where maybe
>> > some further study would be  necessary.
>> >
>> > It spits in the face of every citizen, when,
>> after
>> > spending countless
>> > hours volunteering our time (this is  the
>> collective
>> > time spent by all
>> > citizens that sit on  committees, commissions, and
>> > authorities in our
>> > community),  making recommendations to do this or
>> > that, to have all of that
>> >  time wasted when decisions are made that
>> contradict
>> > those  citizens
>> > efforts. Maybe if we'd all quit doing all of this
>> >  volunteering for a
>> > awhile, we could send a message that someone
>> needs
>> > to hear us! Otherwise
>> > it just seems as if we're all  wasting our time on
>> > deaf ears...
>> >
>> > RWP
>> > 27  Beverly