Commissioner to me this morning (not in a public hearing): "That project is BS. BS, I say. Nobody would live out there. You couldn't grow a radish on that land. The highest and best use of that property is to land an airplane on it and unload dope from it."
A nuisance may be merely a right thing in the wrong place — like a pig in the parlor instead of the barnyard.
circa 1990:
In a hick FL county, in the middle of a hearing to amend the comprehensive plan, a county commissioner said "Ya can't tell a man what to do with his own land." He was later forced to resign after numerous photos of him meeting after dark in deserted parking lots with a convicted cocaine dealer appeared in the paper.
In same hick county, another hearing, another commissioner: "I know it's against the Comprehensive Plan, but I make a motion to approve." I thought the Planning Director was gonna pee his pants.
Same county, another hearing, transplant Yankee commissioner, in the middle of one of my cases: "Young lady, we're out of coffee, go make us a pot."
wow, it's stories like this that really make me appreciate how far we women have come in the development industry/professionOriginally posted by Zoning Goddess
If someone said that to me today I would be very insulted.
"Never invest in any idea you can't illustrate with a crayon." ~Peter Lynch
Wow, wow, and wow. 3 reasons why I'll probably never be a planner outside of California (or at least outside of the liberal west).
In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move. (Douglas Adams)
I don't even know how I would respond to this. I had something similar .... wait! This would be a great thread topic.
Occupy Your Brain!
Well, heck, I was pretty insulted back then! (I found out later that he'd done the same thing to the Planning Director - a man - at another hearing)
Also back then, and the first few years of my next job, female employees were not permitted to wear slacks or pantsuits to public hearings and, in the Planning Dept, not in the office, either.
Discussing a development plan amendment for a restaurant shuttered for the good part of a year, "ARE YA TELLING ME THAT FRIDAY'S CLOSED?"
I'm sure you were! The pants comment is interesting though because I am one of the younger women in my department/building. I like to wear skirts, not everyday, but on average at least once a week I'll opt for a skirt over pants, especially during the summer and winter (with tights and boots of course). The older women in my office comment that they had to wear skirts all the time back in the day, so now they never want to wear skirts anymore.
"Never invest in any idea you can't illustrate with a crayon." ~Peter Lynch
Staff member was presenting to commission on landscape plan and said how many conifers were included. The PD, a former college basketball player and my boss, speaks up "What's a conifer?". Staff always called him the "the big conifer" after that.
“Nonconformity is the highest evolutionary attainment of social animals.” ― Aldo Leopold
This from a county with no zoning in the South.
Council Member 1: If you're so concerned with what's going to happen in the adjacent parcel, why don't you just buy it up?
Council Member 2: Most of us didn't marry into money like you did...
Council Member 1: What was that?
Council Member 2: Nothing.
At last night's workshop:
"What do we need a Planning Board for since we have the final say so?"
"This UDO only keeps businesses from coming. You (staff) need to help bring in a good restaurant like Olive Garden."
"You drove away a guy who wanted to put a solar farm on 100 acres and told him to find another site." (The 100 acre site is a location for a future interchange on a 4-lane divided limited access highway. We also gave a 'guy' a map which showed over 100 sites where a solar farm is encouraged to be built)
This commissioner is a lone wolf on the board and the other 4 stood up for staff, planning and the UDO - but its still mind numbing to hear those type of remarks.
"Whatever beer I'm drinking, is better than the one I'm not." DMLW
At least you have those 4. At the moment we really only have 1 council member who consistently sticks up for staff. With the other 6 I often think they'd be more than happy to see our entire dept. let go.
*sigh*
Last summer I was before City Council proposing the CDBG budget which included funds for our first time homebuyer/closing cost assitance program and our homeownership academy. One councilman said, "Why are we giving them help with closing costs? They should just ask a family member for a loan."
In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. -Martin Luther King Jr.
Quote of the night from an applicant:
"We're a local family. We've put our heart and soul into bringing progress to this community. We brought Taco Bell here!"
Had to stomp on my planner's foot to keep him from laughing.
"Oh, that is all well and good, but, voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."
- Herman Göring at the Nuremburg trials (thoughts on democracy)
In a completely opposite situation, I give you the Silverton, OR mayor:
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C'mon and get me you twist of fate
I'm standing right here Mr. Destiny
If you want to talk well then I'll relate
If you don't so what cause you don't scare me
Is that a leather skirt?
"Never invest in any idea you can't illustrate with a crayon." ~Peter Lynch
Yeah. It really accentuates his figure, wouldn't you say?
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C'mon and get me you twist of fate
I'm standing right here Mr. Destiny
If you want to talk well then I'll relate
If you don't so what cause you don't scare me
Lol, oh sh*t. I had to do a double-take on that picture. Well good for him, gotta love living out here on the left coast.
I think I've been lucky, no one has asked for coffee. My favorite was having a long drawn out meeting with everyone complaining about the project and half way through the mayor asks..."Do I have to listen to all their crap?" This was in a decent sized Phoenix suburb.
You haven't ignored the last of me!
Yep. Silverton is a cool place. I almost took a job there...Lol, oh sh*t. I had to do a double-take on that picture. Well good for him, gotta love living out here on the left coast.
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C'mon and get me you twist of fate
I'm standing right here Mr. Destiny
If you want to talk well then I'll relate
If you don't so what cause you don't scare me
And everyone in Silverton breathes a sigh of relief.
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