INC NEWS - Letter: Quality projects should be the primary goal (Herald-Sun)

[John Schelp]

Letter: Quality projects should be the primary goal 
Herald-Sun, 26 May 2008 
 
Streamlining the development process in Durham may be
a good idea, but taking away the Planning Commission's
ability to defer decisions on development proposals is
a very bad way to achieve it. That change will cut out
the option for further fact-finding when questions are
raised at a public hearing about complex consequences
of a development proposal, such as environmental or
traffic impact. Those consequences take time to
evaluate and discuss. 

Further, that change will reduce citizen participation
in the approval process. If citizens raise objections
or point out problems at a Planning Commission
hearing, there will be no requirement for developers
to meet with them afterward to negotiate and reach
compromises. For some large projects, especially
controversial ones, we owe that additional window of
time to everyone who will live with the consequences
after construction. We should be encouraging citizen
participation, not reducing it. 

True, time is money for developers. Also true: Time
means quality for Durham. And time also means citizen
participation. Why is speed suddenly the primary goal?
The quality of our future development and the
community's participation in it should be just as
important as speed. If indeed we believe that, then we
can't take away the Planning Commission's ability to
defer proposals that, in its judgment, require a
little more of our valuable time to get right. 

Frances Kerr
Durham