Thumb, Nose...You Know the Drill
Ain't democracy grand? Representative government lets the people (any "people") petition their government to provide a service or fix a problem.
Developer Gary "The Gary" McCartin is people. And he's pretty good at getting government to go along with his wishes. But point that out and The Gary tends to bristle, as evidenced by his harsh response to CM Beverly Crump at a recent City Council meeting.
Now, the knee-capping of Mrs. Crump makes sense. As we suspected at the time, and were more convinced of at a subsequent Plan Commission meeting, the grand design of this petitioner was to handicap Mrs. Crump and to cut her out of the voting herd.
What voting herd? Why, the upcoming gathering of the nine-member City Council, before which The Gary will petition to have the northwest corner of Green Valley Road and Daisy Lane rezoned from residential (R-2) to a PUD commercial office building.
Having failed to obtain approval for a retail space in previous "petitions," The Gary just keeps on coming back. Despite losing his bid to have the Plan Commission recommend the rezoning, it appears that petitioner is taking this one to the Supremes.
City Council has final say - after all, they each must stand for election, will have to answer to the voters, and ostensibly are closest to the people they represent. The near-neighbors (which include Mr. and Mrs. CM Schmidt) offered vigorous opposition, but they can't live forever!
You can be sure that The Gary is doing more than a little ex parte petitioning in advance of the meeting. You might call it renewing acquaintances, making friends, spreading cheer. But call it what you will, The Gary seems bound to get his vote in council.
So this council gets to make its declaration here and now. Does New Albany continue to blow hot air into the balloon, pushing development further and farther out (and leaving a hollow center)? Does the council agree with The Gary that downtown and the State Street corridor are "dead zones" that should be seen only in the rearview mirror?
We know that money talks. But does that mean that voters walk...away from the burgeoning sprawl? Will this balloting be the litmus test by which council is judged in 2007? Which will count more - votes or campaign contributions?
With Mrs. Crump neutralized by the machinations of The Gary, I stand without representation at council on this matter. Where do I go to get my council member back? Gary, I think you owe me one.
Developer Gary "The Gary" McCartin is people. And he's pretty good at getting government to go along with his wishes. But point that out and The Gary tends to bristle, as evidenced by his harsh response to CM Beverly Crump at a recent City Council meeting.
Now, the knee-capping of Mrs. Crump makes sense. As we suspected at the time, and were more convinced of at a subsequent Plan Commission meeting, the grand design of this petitioner was to handicap Mrs. Crump and to cut her out of the voting herd.
What voting herd? Why, the upcoming gathering of the nine-member City Council, before which The Gary will petition to have the northwest corner of Green Valley Road and Daisy Lane rezoned from residential (R-2) to a PUD commercial office building.
Having failed to obtain approval for a retail space in previous "petitions," The Gary just keeps on coming back. Despite losing his bid to have the Plan Commission recommend the rezoning, it appears that petitioner is taking this one to the Supremes.
City Council has final say - after all, they each must stand for election, will have to answer to the voters, and ostensibly are closest to the people they represent. The near-neighbors (which include Mr. and Mrs. CM Schmidt) offered vigorous opposition, but they can't live forever!
You can be sure that The Gary is doing more than a little ex parte petitioning in advance of the meeting. You might call it renewing acquaintances, making friends, spreading cheer. But call it what you will, The Gary seems bound to get his vote in council.
So this council gets to make its declaration here and now. Does New Albany continue to blow hot air into the balloon, pushing development further and farther out (and leaving a hollow center)? Does the council agree with The Gary that downtown and the State Street corridor are "dead zones" that should be seen only in the rearview mirror?
We know that money talks. But does that mean that voters walk...away from the burgeoning sprawl? Will this balloting be the litmus test by which council is judged in 2007? Which will count more - votes or campaign contributions?
With Mrs. Crump neutralized by the machinations of The Gary, I stand without representation at council on this matter. Where do I go to get my council member back? Gary, I think you owe me one.
posted by All4Word at 3:55 PM
7 Comments:
There's no reason for Ms. Crump to stand down on this one. It was cordial of her to step aside during McCartin's appearance before the plan commission but a bit overdone.
I attended the council meeting during which McCartin did his poor, tourtured soul bit (and told a fib in the process). The only thing Ms. Crump suggested was that she would've liked an opportunity to speak to some of her constituents prior to voting unanimously to suspend the rules and do three readings to give McCartin yet another zoning change. It seems that some of the residents of Ms. Crump's district, who live near one of his already existing developments, don't think too highly of dealing with him and have complained.
That whole episode, though, has absolutely nothing to do with this zoning change. She should vote, as should my own Council Member Steve Price. This is an opportunity for him to define an injustice to fight against and to place himself squarely on the side of fiscal responsibility by voting against further sprawl and the unneccessary costs of its upkeep.
Interesting analysis of a possible motive by Mr. McCartin.
With so much space available downtown I see little reason for changing zoning from R-2 anywhere for the sake of commercial office space. There is also the closed Winn Dixie on State if being close to the hospital is that important. Most instances of needing to be THAT close to hospital is overblown. It is less than 3 miles to downtown NA from the Daisy Lane/GV intersection. Why we need to tear up nice houses and neighborhoods to do this baffles me.
FYI, the Winn Dixie has/is being redeveloped.
NAC,
Thanks. I stand corrected.
It's interesting to note that the Winn Dixie is being redeveloped by a doctor who, after moving his office there, still has more space available for lease.
The same doctor's old building, near McDonald's on State, is also currently available for lease and, one would presume, already set up as medical office space.
"2525 State" is rental property, whereas the McCartin development is intended to be condominiums (condominia?).
For some, owning that land is important. As one prospective purchaser said, he and his partners want to have something to pass on to their children.
That said, the point remains that moving away from the hospital is counterintuitive to the whole idea of being closer to the hospital.
County Council Member Dana Fendley was at the Plan Commission meeting with her constituents and said that lease or own, the compelling argument is that there is no need to expand in that direction.
I, for one, don't understand why being near the hospital is that important for the patients, as the doctor in question says. I can see how a doc might want a short commute, but from one end to the other in New Albany is a pretty short commute.
The "merits" have been decided by the Plan Commission. They have recommended the PUD be rejected. The question now is can McCartin persuade a sufficient number of council members to overrule the Plan Commission and send it back for further review?
And more importantly, in my mind, is how he will have done that. Any council member who votes to override the Plan Commission is obligated to state compelling reasons for doing so.
The old building occupied by the allergy doctors is to be torn down and a new Walgreens to be built there. Walgreens wants a drive through capability at that store.
Or at least that was the plan a few months ago.
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