God Acts

I had this premonition, after all the discussion of Acts of God on Monday at the Planning Commission meeting.  Although fires are a real rarity here...literally years, I had this feeling all the talk would somehow fast forward us to another fire disaster.  Sure enough, as we pulled in the driveway yesterday afternoon(Friday)  we could smell the distinct odor of wood burning.  Almost with the next step the sirens started to wail, drawing closer to the Lake.  From our backyard we could see the white smoke rising from a home, my guess 2nd tier and in the area of 87th Street.  About 15 minutes later the fire appeared to be extinguished.  Last evening we decided to scout the situation but were puzzled as we drove down 87th Street.  No burned out building, no broken windows...nothing but a slight smoky smell in the air...from who knows where.  We stopped one of the local natives who informed us, yes indeed, there had been a fire.  9603 87th Street.  A big green dumpster on the property had caught fire.  God? Nope.

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Took a tour of C-point while we were in the neighborhood, sun going down as we walked to the Pavilion.  We had to walk down the road, it was blocked at the little guard shack, new asphalt patching had been done.   A woman was playing with her kids on the swings...some folks were fishing off the docks.  The doors were up on the new Pavilion, very nice inside.  We walked past the cars as we got back into the van...I noticed there were no WL stickers on the three cars parked there...must have been guests...right?      

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I Clean Up Now, OK?

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Several emails bouncing around reminding the citizenry of the City Cleanup of the right of way...so just in case you missed it or forgot it, as a public service:

• Tomorrow, Saturday,  9:30, meet @ City Hall
• Bring gloves, rakes and your pick-up
• Noon burger/dog fest @  Birmingham Park   

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKD5ONQWp_4

Oddities

Reflecting on the Planning Commission meeting, a couple of thoughts.

Newly minted alderman Folkedahl made the first public comment at the meeting.  He stood to "recuse" himself of participating on the Commission because of his status now as an alderman.  Interesting and odd.  The City Code clearly allows the participation of an alderman on the Commission.  Maybe he hasn't had the chance to read the Code yet, possibly his colleagues or Mayor don't want him to participate...who knows.

Speaking of odd, Mayor Bos has chosen not to particpate on the Commission as well, again, by Code, he is allowed to be a member of the Commission.  All previous mayors within memory, Kendrick, Henderson, York have actively participated on the Commission, Bos sits in the back of the room.  Why?  Your guess is as good as mine.

Ms Hoy, is the only alderman I know who actively communicates with constituents via eamil updates,  kudos for that.  She mentioned in two separate reminders to folks on her email list about the Planning Commission meeting but did not share her vision for changes in Codes, specifically the adoption of PUDS.  Obviously she had specific intentions, her "Dear Commissioners" letter was quite clear.  She didn't share that vision ahead of time...why?  Controversial, yes.  Against the grain, yes.  Popular?  You would have to ask the residents along Roberts Road and West Side Drive in particular.  How do her fellow alderman feel about the subject?  I have to believe Mr DeJong is caught between a rock and a hard place.

Odd.

"I was the Alderman who proposed changes be made to our City Code"

A "Dear Commissioners" letter dropped off at City Hall on Monday afternoon by Mary Hoy.  Under the letterhead, Mary P. Hoy, Ph.D., Educational Consulting  a number of assertions were made.

• "we have a number of older homes located on properties less than 15,000 sq ft."
• "our city has lost 150 people since the 2000 census.  Several of those who moved away may have stayed if there if there were changes in ownership"
• "Many of our former residents, have however, left the lake with much regret because these spacious lawns (referring to lots of 15,000sq ft or more) have required resources of time and energy and perhaps money that they no longer wished to invest maintenance.    
• "We have much undeveloped property in Westridge which might be developed to accommodate the needs of some of our residents and others desiring all that Weatherby Lake provides in ambiance without the burden of maintenance of outside property". 

Her idea/proposal?

• "amending Code to allow developers to present Planned Unit Developments (PUDS) providing maintenance free and/or patio homes".
• "These homes, might not meet current Section 405.120 Setback Requirements".  

Mary and a few others have been in favor of relaxation or revision of the Codes for minimum lot size, home size and setback.  A couple of them were present at the Planning Commission meeting.  Add two disgruntled citizens who didn't like the outcome of a BZA appeal regarding their property.  And a realtor who might profit from a change in the codes.  Voila, you have the critical mass Mary believes is necessary to make wholesale changes to the Codes.  Does her viewpoint represent the will of the majority of the people @ WL?  One of her supporters made that inference at the meeting.  Ms Hoy was not present during the meeting, but Mr Hoy was.  Although saying he wasn't representing his wife...he presented the Hoy party line regarding high nice these PUDS would be, alluding to them being high end.  (Now wait, if people are bailing from WL because they can't afford to mow their grass...how are they going to buy high end property?)  Go figure.  During the discussion one of the commissioners questioned what was to stop these PUDS from spreading throughout the community?  Nothing.  The Planning Commission wasn't buying the notion and in fairly quick order unanimously confirmed they had no interest in changing the current codes.  End of story, right?  Wrong.  Do not expect this issue to go away.  Mary and her crew have been dedicated to this issue...for years and it will resurface again.  A change in commissioners, change in BOA, will accommodate another opportunity.  Maybe even Mayor Hoy.  

   

Acts of God and Other Highly Unusual Activity

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Where do I begin?  After a 3 hour Planning Commission meeting with plenty of over the top hyperbole the evening ended with an 8-0 vote stuffing a Hoy proposal to modify or abandon current City Code to allow Planned Unit Developments (PUDS) in the City.  But I digress.

The first two hours of the meeting were focused on a modification of City Code 405.330, Cessation of Use.  Ostensibly the change of the Code would allow non-conforming (read not to Code) homes that were damaged 55% or more of its reproduction costs.  "The majority of the damage to the structure or building was caused by a fire, act of God, or similar damaging event.  (Frankly, the tornado damage in St Louis looks more like the work of the Devil than a benevolent God, but again, I digress)
(Courts have recognized various events as acts of God—tornadoes, earthquakes, death, extraordinarily high tides, violent winds, and floods. Many insurance policies for property damage exclude from their protection damage caused by acts of God.)

West's Encyclopedia of American Law, edition 2. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

This led to a back in forth discussion with Don Coleman Jr and the City Attorney regarding the definition of an "Act of God", Coleman pressing the question of whether a "City sewer backing up in the basement" was an Act of God.  That ended by Attorney  John advising Mr Coleman to secure an attorney, that City Attorney was representing the City.

Comments from the audience strayed often into the whole concept of non-conforming property and the ability (and right) of the property owners to rebuild on or beyond the current footprint no matter the conditions or situation.  Although the Chair, Mark Horstman, tried to refocus discussion to the specific proposal for 405.330, comments from the audience went well beyond the scope of the proposal.  In the end the question was called and the vote taken, unanimously, to recommend adoption a new Cessation of Use which allows an owner to rebuild a structure which has a majority of damage caused by a fire or act of God, if within 6 months after said damage a building permit is obtained to rebuild on the same footprint and completed within  the time allowed by the building permit.  This recommendation will presumably be considered for adoption by the BOA at the next BOA meeting, May 3rd. 

Tomorrow's Post-Mary Drops the Bomb 

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