By. Neil Williamson, President
Woody Allen once said “Eighty Percent of Success is showing up” Charlottesville Chief Deputy City Attorney Lisa Robertson is taking it one step further to 100 percent and on time or your voice does not matter.
Please let me explain.
On tomorrow night’s (9/12/17) Charlottesville Planning Commission Consent Agenda is a resolution to amend the zoning code [Page 145 of 266 page agenda download].
This resolution contains the most anti engagement language I have ever seen in my thirteen years of public policy work; the resolution directs staff to ignore public comments received after the middle of June:
Amendments set forth within the “Legal Audit” draft dated February 28, 2017 (other than those referenced in (1)-(6), above) as to which no objections were received from the public as of 5/24/2017; for these text amendments, the proposed ordinance shall incorporate items noted in the “Questions and Corrections” document updated through 6/13/2017
In the last three Planning Commission work sessions on this issue, there have been less that ten citizens in attendance. The Free Enterprise Forum has provided input after the May 24th date. Why should our comments on July 25th or anyone else’s be ignored by staff? Was that meeting not a work session on the zoning code amendment?
Equally troubling is the roundabout manner in which the staff seems to want the discussion of building height to go away. Even as the City’s own PLACE Design Task Force is scheduled to discuss and possibly vote on a preferred solution this Thursday. This resolution, if passed on Tuesday, would likely circumvent some of the discussion by proactively eliminating code language:
Deletion of the following words from the definition of “building height” set forth within sec. 34-1200 of Article X (Definitions): “This distance is calculated by measuring separately the average height of each building wall, then averaging them together.” Also: delete the diagram included in 34-1200 as part of the definition of “building height.”
The charge of the PLACE Design Task Force:
To guide the community in making decisions about place making, livability, and community engagement. Act as an advisory body to the Planning Commission and City Council in matters pertaining to urban design and place making.
Yet Charlottesville’s legal staff feels empowered to push forward this amendment before the design professionals have an opportunity to formally weigh in on its impacts.
Make no mistake, staff is embolden to keep this moving forward on their terms but the Planning Commission does not have to accept the language in the proposed resolution.
A courageous Planning Commissioner could, and SHOULD, step up and suggest that the item be removed from the consent agenda and the language be revised by the commission.
But will anyone step up?
Respectfully submitted,
Neil Williamson, President
Neil Williamson is the President of The Free Enterprise Forum, a privately funded public policy organization covering the City of Charlottesville as well as Albemarle, Greene, Fluvanna, Louisa and Nelson County.
Photo Credit: Evening Standard/Getty images
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