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D-COMM Ping Pong
The proposed amended Downtown Commercial (D-COMM) zoning district ordinance, sent from Council back to the Planning Commission following a scuttled public hearing, was returned again to Council last night by the Planning Commission.
But this volley came with yet another new twist, a brand new spin: the Commission fully reversed its earlier recommendation that Council approve the ordinance.
The motion, passed by four “yea” votes of five Commission members present, read this way: “That the Planning Commission send a memo advising Council that the Commission has discussed its prior recommendation to approve the proposed D-COMM ordinance but was unable to continue to support that recommendation. The Planning Commission recommends that Council not approve the ordinance.”
Commissioner James Evans listed himself as “not voting.” Chair Deb Johnston and Commissioner David Saneck were absent.
One could be tempted to say, on the face of it, that “the Commission unaccountably reversed itself,” but the fact is that it was very accountably.
There were four quite distinct sets of substantive and procedural reasons for each of the four votes, but the fundamental pressure to reconsider came from Vice Chair George Martynick, in the chair for the evening in Johnston’s absence.
Martynick contended that the terms of the ordinance were just a “fix” to more serious underlying issues; that those deeper issues should be addressed now, not later; and that, with the Council Ordinance Subcommittee’s consideration of a D-COMM district extension out to Nutt Road, the ordinance’s terms were simply inappropriate. “My argument,” Martynick said, “is that with the expansion, let’s send it back and do it right.”
Posted by
G.E. “Skip” Lawrence
But this volley came with yet another new twist, a brand new spin: the Commission fully reversed its earlier recommendation that Council approve the ordinance.
The motion, passed by four “yea” votes of five Commission members present, read this way: “That the Planning Commission send a memo advising Council that the Commission has discussed its prior recommendation to approve the proposed D-COMM ordinance but was unable to continue to support that recommendation. The Planning Commission recommends that Council not approve the ordinance.”
Commissioner James Evans listed himself as “not voting.” Chair Deb Johnston and Commissioner David Saneck were absent.
One could be tempted to say, on the face of it, that “the Commission unaccountably reversed itself,” but the fact is that it was very accountably.
There were four quite distinct sets of substantive and procedural reasons for each of the four votes, but the fundamental pressure to reconsider came from Vice Chair George Martynick, in the chair for the evening in Johnston’s absence.
Martynick contended that the terms of the ordinance were just a “fix” to more serious underlying issues; that those deeper issues should be addressed now, not later; and that, with the Council Ordinance Subcommittee’s consideration of a D-COMM district extension out to Nutt Road, the ordinance’s terms were simply inappropriate. “My argument,” Martynick said, “is that with the expansion, let’s send it back and do it right.”
Posted by
G.E. “Skip” Lawrence
posted by The Phoenix Files at
4:47 PM
2 Comments:
talk about one of the all time elusive goals…I proposed this 3 years ago. I worked on this with John Messina initially…then was two years of jello where nothing moved…then met with the borough planner came up with a plan…goes to planning…passes…goes through to council…sent back and now disapproved. I am not sure if this is politics or not…makes little or no sense to me.
I want this passed because that is the future of the downtown. We made that decision when we decided to go to Nutt road with the streetscape. The gateway to this town goes through a one of the most run down parts of town. Most of that stuff needs a facelift at the minimum and potentially to be torn down. We I spoke with the planner we chatted about the one side to the west (as the road bends there) would be included because it lent itself to retail/commercial and the other side would not be included. It is up on a hill.
I am not sure I am confortable with the fact that this man proposed to another man.
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