So, it’s 9:00, the Urban Design Commission (agenda) is on item #7 . . . and I’m here for items #10 (scheduled for 6:15) and #11 (scheduled for 6:30).
Luckily, I accomplished several things this evening, but I’m afraid I”m going to run out of batteries soon and I didn’t bring my power cord. And I should have brought more than a granola bar for dinner.
What is amazing me at the moment is that there are still 12 people waiting to speak in the room and another 6 (including a sleeping Cliff Fisher sprawled across a bench) in the hallway and that the citizen volunteers on this committee do their jobs so thoroughly.
Fortunately, I was able to talk to several people that I had to talk to, get some IZ work done, complete some other tasks, answered some emails, chatted with someone in another meeting I should have been at and now I’m blogging.
Meanwhile, there are several people in the room, most of them likely getting paid much better than I am for my time, that don’t see to be utilizing their time in any kind of constructive manner. Sure, I saw a few people read a few newspapers, but they all just seem kind of dazed and bored. I’ve seen a few people take some phone calls or check their treos/blackberries, but I”m kind of amazed at the colossal waste of time these folks can afford. Haven’t they ever heard of multi-tasking?
Seems to me that there has to be a better way to do this. Here’s a few suggestions:
1. The citizens that are here, several of whom left and came back, should have been able to give their testimony and go home.
2. We should consider televising the meetings, so that folks can watch from home, work or the bar and show up when appropriate.
3. They should just bite the bullet and schedule these presentations 20 to 25 minutes apart or allow the staff to make more educated guesses about the length of time the items will take so that folks at the end of the agenda get a little more realistic estimation of when to be there.
Another suggestion from the audience . . . don’t let the commission members take a break and go to Starbuck’s for coffee! (My comment: Starbucks?)
My two cents for now . . . I’m guessing I”ll be here another two hours or so, so expect a little more blogging tonight. I’ll update later for the results on the items I am here for.
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I actually got out of there by 10:30, a half hour before I expected to.
625 E Mifflin passed unanimously. It’s a little disappointing to have a 3 story building where a 5 story building was originally approved, but its better to have a project instead of none at all. And its interesting to wonder what this will do for plans for density in the E Washington BUILD area.
The Blair/Hancock project was rejected. 4 – 3. Interestingly enough, the UDC would have referred it, but the developer (the aforementioned guy sleeping in the hallway) preferred rejection. The concerns seemed to be the driveway off of Hancock squeezed between two houses, the way the building stretches to the back of the lot and the width of the building. My concern is still about what the project means for the future of the house in this downtown area. On to the plan commission.
