A brief recap of the meeting tonight:
The developer showed the commission the newest version of the sign. It is 6 feet 10 inches tall and 11 feet wide. The animated part of the sign has not changed size in all the various permutations.
Those in favor of the developer’s proposal spoke. Those opposed spoke – roughtly twice as many opposed as in favor. The developer responded.
The commission closed comments (we read this to mean that neither the public nor the developer can add any new material) and said they would render a decision at the next meeting, on June 8. They stipulated that access remain open to the letters the developer sent in, dated February 12 and December (some date…), supporting their contention that not having the sign would pose a practical diffuculty. They are available in the zoning office in City Hall Commons (201 E. Washington St.).
Why are the letters from the developer, dated December 2008 and February 2009 available for review? Aren’t they considered moot by the Planning Commission? I understood that the Planning Commission, at its April 27th meeting, withdrew the original application for signage and requested that the developer resubmit a new application with the new plan. This was to alllow the parties to provide comment on the sign request currently being considered.
The developer requested that everything they had submitted before be included in this new request. So the letters are the same old justification for a new request. Huh?
I have a huge problem with the way the council is handling this. They have the power to say “NO” to walgreens and the henchmen sent by the company but, they dance around and act like they do not have the power. How about before they got the OK to build this store in a neighborhood you council members could have sat down with them and said ” This is the only way we will let you build here in this area,
1. Build a store that fits this neighborhood.
2. No huge sign that lights up
and then we wouldn’t have to waste everyones time with meeting after meeting to never get anywhere. In the end big business wins because they dangle money over the councils heads and promise them taxes. It is the same old story. All they do is waste more of my taxpayer money on documents and meetings.