Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Town of Boone Intercepted Emails: Or, The Willful Ignorance of the Spotless Mind

BACKGROUND: The new rules for "Planned Developments" (PDs) in the Town of Boone passed the Boone Town Council by a 3-2 vote on November 19. Last Thursday, December 17, the first test of the PD process -- a "neighborhood meeting" with the developer -- took place concerning the proposed redevelopment of the old Southern States site at the end of Rivers Street into student housing -- a 50-ft.-tall building (current ordinance only allows 40 feet downtown) with 350 bedrooms renting @$700 each and with only 150 parking places, all of which have to be leased separately and at extra expense by the tenants.

The general public was not informed of the "neighborhood meeting." That non-notification non-requirement is a feature (not a bug) of the new rules. Only adjacent property owners are notified, if they're within 150 feet of the proposed development. Under the new PD rules, property owners may complain all they want to; the developer is not obliged by law to pay any attention to any of it. The developer gets to report the content of the "neighborhood meeting" to the Town Council, which must vote the project up or down.

No staff members from the town's Planning and Inspections Department attended the December 17 meeting. In fact, according to Town Manager John Ward's email (# 3 below), town officials would really rather not know anything about it, and it's fairly clear that they don't want the general public to know either. They wouldn't want anyone to think that the Town of Boone is standing up for neighborhoods.

So here's the way it now works: You may have the right to find out when and where a "neighborhood meeting" is, but the Town of Boone can't provide that information to you, because the TOB intentionally made sure it doesn't have that information. Because if the TOB did have that information, some of its Council members might go hear neighborhood concerns for themselves, and/or the developer might get mad. Ignorance is bliss.

1. From: Christine Pope, Boone Town Clerk
Date: Monday, December 21, 2015 9:36 AM
Subject: Boone Town Council Agenda Deadline

Good morning,

For your information, attached is notice of our next agenda item submission deadline for the Boone Town Council. As a reminder, if you have not already done so, please fill out the attached form and return it to me at your earliest convenience if you would like to continue to receive notices of Council and/or board and committee meetings after the New Year. If you have any questions, just let me know.

Thank you,
Christine

Christine Pope
Town Clerk
Town of Boone

2. From: Pam Williamson
To: Christine Pope
Date: 12/21/2015 10:12 AM
Subject: Re Boone Town Council Agenda Deadline

Hi, Christine. You already have my updated forms, right?

Also, would you please consider this email a formal request to be notified in advance of any P[lanned] D[evelopment] neighborhood meetings—time and place.

Thanks,
-- Pam

3. From: John Ward
Date: Monday, December 21, 2015 1:40 PM
To: Pam Williamson
Cc: Christine Pope
Subject: Re: Boone Town Council Agenda Deadline

Dear Mrs. Williamson,

As you can see from the UDO text below, the petitioner [developer] is responsible for the meeting from setting it up to providing a report to staff which is to be included in the application. The ordinance adopted by Council purposely did not include a requirement for staff to attend these meetings or to organize them.  Several reasons including overtime pay, a perceived bias against the developer as well as a misconception from neighbors that the Town would appear to endorse the project if we attended the meetings.  Staff, and the Town generally, must appear to be neutral throughout the application process. 

Since this is a meeting between the neighbors who are within 150 feet of a proposal and the petitioner [developer] then Christine will not be keeping the same type of schedule for these meetings that we do for Town hosted meetings.

Because the PD is not tied to a designated primary zoning district, specific procedural steps not generally applicable are mandated and more detailed information must be submitted by the petitioner [developer] before the petition may be acted upon.

A. Specific procedural requirements include:
         2. Before submitting the petition, the petitioner must schedule a meeting with owners of property located within 150’ of the development site.
         a. The petitioner must provide notice at least 21 days prior to the meeting in accordance with Subsection 1.13.02 herein.
         b. The meeting must be held at an accessible and convenient location in light of available options.
         c. The petitioner must record the names and addresses of all attendees at the meeting. Town of Boone Unified Development Ordinance Article 9 Amendments 9-11
         d. At the meeting, the petitioner, at a minimum, shall present all the following information:
         i. Contact information of the parties involved in the ownership, design, and development of the property;
         ii. The location of the property and general information on the current conditions of the site;
         iii. Proposed use(s) and site development;
         iv. Any preliminary plans or renderings, if available; and
         v. Any other information deemed pertinent by the Administrator.
         e. The petitioner shall provide the Administrator with a report which details the meeting including any concerns expressed by attendees and any commitments made by the petitioner. This report shall be included in the staff report.

Please let me know if you would like to discuss further.

Sincerely,

John A. Ward III
Town Manager
Town of Boone

4. From: Pam Williamson
Date: Monday, December 21, 2015 4:17 PM
To: John Ward, Boone Town Manager
Cc: Christine Pope
Subject: Re: Boone Town Council Agenda Deadline

John, with all due respect, your explanation is specious.

(1) I'm sure the neighborhoods would welcome council members and P&I [Planning & Inspections staff] at the meeting to hear their concerns. I can assure you they would not take such as a sign that the council is "for" the developer. Instead, they will take what you are doing as evidence that the council is railroading the neighborhood. Which they are.

(2) I cannot imagine what kind of Town staff or council member would not want to attend the meeting.

(3) What makes you think a developer will adequately represent what the neighborhood concerns are? Isn't that exactly like asking the fox to document the chickens' concerns before he builds the henhouse in such as manner as to ensure himself the greatest profit?

I want to know when the neighborhood meetings are. I assume you are telling me I don't have that right.

-- Pam

5. From: John Ward
Date: Monday, December 21, 2015 4:33 PM
To: Pam Williamson
Subject: Re: Boone Town Council Agenda Deadline

Dear Mrs. Williamson,

I'll call to discuss. I'm not telling you that you don' t have a right but I think that a discussion of what was adopted may help.

Sincerely,

John A. Ward III
Town Manager
Town of Boone

6. From: Pam Williamson
To: John Ward, Boone Town Manager
Date: December 21, 2015 5:02 PM
Subject: Re: Boone Town Council Agenda Deadline

Call anytime, John, but you don't need to read the ordinance to me. I know it and understand it well. In fact, I might point out to you that there is nothing at all in the regs that disallows the council or staff to ask for notice of the meeting, nor anything that would prevent a council member nor anyone else who wanted to from attending.


-- Pam

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