Hello Watchdogs…
Below please see excerpted minutes from River Heights City Council, April 24th, 2018 concerning the Chugg property. Please see the part about Mayor John Drew.
Now this developer, whom many on Providence City Council think is just marvelous to know, is no longer willing to pay the cost of one of the two bridges which would be needed in order for his proposed town home subdivision to go up near the bench between the two towns.
The supreme irony of this is that it was his willingness to pay for the bridge and build it which first delighted various Providence City Council members (all but the late Jeff Baldwin, who remained rational throughout). An additional irony is the fact that they have approved the repugnant Life Cycle Residential zone and now have
NO PLACE TO PUT IT.
Having been romanced into passing a new zone, specially designed to rezone and invade established neighborhoods with transient residents and loud, heavy traffic, the Council members and the Mayor must now face up to being left dangling by a developer who was just kidding about what he intended to offer.
At the same time, days after the addition of this new repugnant zone to our Ordinances, the City has an application to build town homes on a 2-acre SFT (single family traditional zone) residential parcel from an applicant whop apparently thinks the parcel is already zoned LCR and wants to change it to MFM (multi-family medium density zone). I doubt anyone thought of this as a potential bad outcome when they approved the new zone, but here is an applicant trying to use the fictional application of the new zone as a way-station to justify asking for high-density zoning (none of that planned community stuff) in a single family neighborhood.
Recently I was thinking it might be feasible to refer to the voters the application of the new zone to the Chugg property. but now they are sidelined on that anyway.
Now I am thinking instead that not only did we not NEED the new zone, not only did many people sincerely oppose it for good reasons, but also it is really a liability looking for a place to happen (since it is described as a “rezone” by definition). Maybe the best think overall would be to refer to the voters the notion of getting rid of this zone as it is not needed here and seems likely to cause a lot of harm.
Laura
James Brackner will be finished working for the City by April 30. Mayor Rasmussen expressed his appreciation for all the help he has given him.
He has talked to Providence Mayor Drew and was informed the Army Corp of Engineers has gotten involved with the bridge on the Chugg property, which is causing the project to cost more than initially thought. The developer is now saying he didn’t say he would pay for the installation and asked for their annexation petition to be tabled while he looks into some things. Mayor Rasmussen told Mayor Drew that River Heights didn’t protest the annexation because it was understood that Providence would make sure the bridge was installed so they could take the traffic through Providence. And, if the developers come back to River Heights, Providence (or the developer) would still be required to put in the bridge. Some of the Providence residents are very against development on the Chugg property.
He is working with the city attorney to figure out the process for bringing non-compliant residents into compliance. Attorney Jenkins said non-compliance is a Class B misdemeanor and suggested a friendly letter at first. A second letter would be from the attorney, which would act as a citation. If the infraction is immediately remedied, the City will drop the charges. If it continues there will be fines, jail time, etc. Infractions, which will be looked at, will include all things that are non-compliant with the City’s code. Mr. Rasmussen suggested having a flyer delivered to each home, giving a heads up on the City’s plan before sending the first round of letters.