Ok, silly games with zoning continue. Will Vang’s appeal of the decision to fine him $11,000 for letting homeless persons camp on his land be dismissed on a technicality and he will just re-file tomorrow so we can do this again in two weeks? If the Zoning Board of Appeals agrees with the city attorney, they would dismiss the complaint based on an email and he could just re-file again tomorrow based on the order issued.
Looks like the City Attorney has determined that the threat to fine Mr. Vang for standing up for the homeless should be thrown out according to the City Attorney. Mr. Vang responds. This is all a primer for the 5:00 meeting tonight to determine if Mr. Vang can be fined for letting Occupy Madison members camp on his land. Currently, there is no zoning anywhere in the city that allows camping.
Two important things here. The meeting has been moved to GR-22 in the City-County Building to accommodate the larger crowds expected, in fact, I would get there say – about – at least 10 minutes early! 🙂
Second, please register in support of Mr. Vang at the meeting. The meeting of the Zoning Board of Appeals is at 5:00 and unlike so many other meetings, this is the only item on the agenda.
Now, if you don’t want to read the dueling memos from attorneys, here’s the summary.
City Attorney says:
– The email from Mr. Tucker is not a decision that can be appealed to the board because it is not a decision of the Zoning Administrator. The email is not a “decision or interpretation” but only an explanation of the allowed uses and possible fines. Only an enforcement order is and until an enforcement order is issues, and appeal is premature.
– The Zoning Board of Appeals cannot hear constitutional arguments and invalidate the ordinance and she cites several court cases to back up the argument.
Mr. Vang says:
– There was an official notice from the city dated March 18, 2013 and it was issued by the Code Enforcement Officer, Jacob Moskowitz. The email says that he will be getting tickets “. . . the City will be issuing you municipal
citations for each day the camping activity is occurring on the site.” And, the Zoning Administrator was the one to refer Mr. Vang to the Zoning Board of Appeals and seemed to agree it was appropriate.
– Under the new Ordinance 28.205(5)(b) that went into effect on January 2, 2013, it reads “The applicant shall file a notice of appeal with the Zoning Board of Appeals. The notice of appeal must specify the grounds for the appeal, including a specific reference to the terms of this chapter, state or federal law, or the state or federal constitution that the applicant believes were incorrectly applied.
– Finally, he argues that that it is not fair and equitable that (1) the City did not order, require, decide or determine that the other 27 locations of encampments by the homeless since October 2011 in the City of Madison were not enforced until me and that (2) no camping use at all is permitted in the entire city of Madison just because the City forgot to make it either a permitted or conditional use? Under its broader jurisdiction, the ZBA can also hear this fair and equitable issue.
We’ll see what the Zoning Board of Appeals does this afternoon. Hope to see you there.
I’d like Brenda to address the question of when it became permissible to flout the rule of law and reasonably enacted land use rules that ensure the health, safety, and well-being of our community. I would be willing to bet money that, while a majority of Madison residents support worthwhile efforts to address the homeless issue in our city, a majority of residents do not approve of your merry band of campers. The endless moving of people from place to place and your silly civil disobedience distracts from the real issue – that you continue to represent a tiny group of activists who can’t or won’t work within the existing system and seem to take great pleasure in trashing government officials and non-profit workers in the homeless services arena. It’s insulting and tiresome. Further, the press you continue to attract is not worthy of someone whose “my way or the highway” activism does not reflect serious capability to work constructively or collaboratively to solve these problems.
The city and county both told Occupy to find a private piece of land. We did. Still not good enough. I will post Vang’s speech and let him explain for himself. He’s being selectively prosecuted and there is a flaw in the law.
18 months of attending countless city and county meetings, outlining the issue, pouring over the facts, politicians and government staff acceptance of the facts but rejection of the solutions; move to new location, try to comply, etc. etc. etc.;
Stan, what you fail to understand is we have worked within the system through this entire process. The system continues to fail. If you can accept the fact that it is illegal to be homeless and there is absolutely no place to go then the system is working for YOU. On the other hand you might feel differently if you fine yourself without a home you are view as living illegally inside the City of Madison. Sorry, we can do better than marginalizing humans and criminalizing poverty.