A Space Odyssey.

Last evening's city council meeting was nothing if not a resounding display of how tightly sealed the pod bay doors have been shut in the minds of some council members on the condo project commonly known as Executive Office Plaza (EOP).

Alderman Dave Schmidtzkrieg (1st ward) made a determined effort to see to it the interests of Park Ridge residents were addressed; particularly residents living in the neighboring 5th ward. After all, somebody has to represent the folks in the 5th ward. Benedict-Alderman, Robert Ryan, sure isn't doing that even when he does manage to make it to a meeting!

Alderman Schmidtzkrieg attempted to amend the zoning map ordinance by offering his fellow council members a motion and opportunity to consider the more transitional and less dense R-4 zoning district.

5th ward residents Carla Owen and CURRB's Judy Barclay both spoke, and urged the city council to give thoughtful consideration to discussion of the R-4 amendment as well as the precedent-setting nature of the decisions before them.

Then, in case anyone was lost, 1st ward resident Dave Kemerer informed those in attendance that they are not living in Colonial Williamsburg, and that there is nothing so unique about Park Ridge that it must be preserved. Don't tell the Pickwick owners he said that, their feelings might get hurt.

Mr. Kemerer also questioned the wisdom of a "stable housing base", opining that we need to add more housing units in order to produce more tax revenues to off-set the costs of increased services, implicitly suggesting that the taxes from those new units will pay for services not only for their own residents but also for the rest of Park Ridge. Mr. Kemerer offered this suggestion without any supporting data. Mr. Kemerer also insisted it was unfair to make a motion for a less dense R-4 district "at the 23rd hour" after having "led the developer way down the road".

We're not sure what roads Mr. Kemerer travels, but we are sure he's lost the map for this trip. Mr. Kemerer, we'd like to suggest that just this once you pull over and ask somebody for directions.

Norwood's attorney offered that the motion before the council was not proper. He was roundly ignored. Norwood's attorney then went on to say that the R-4 zoning district "doesn't advance the development potential of the site". That's lawyer talk for "doesn't provide my clients with the potential level of profits they want."

Resident Herb Zuegel then addressed the council in support of Norwood's plan. Mr. Zuegel must have forgotten to print out a copy of his recent email on the subject so he could have read it to the city council. Mr. Zuegel's remarks before the council were far less strident and lacked his email's wildly speculative questions about the motivations of CURRB's Judy Barclay and others opposed to the density and height variances for Norwood's condominium project. Tsk tsk, Mr. Zuegel. CURRB and Judy Barclay have been opposed to a number of questionable zoning variances for the last 12 years. It is silly to now speculate that CURRB's or Ms. Barclay's motivations have anything to do with her having lost the election to Benedict-Alderman Ryan.

Schmidtzkrieg's R-4 zoning district amendment lost by a 4 (Allspaghetti, Lord of the Manor, Benedict-Alderman, Carey the unfriendly Ghost) to 2 (Schmidtzkrieg, Wsoooool man) vote.

Alderman Wsoooool man did make note of the fact that Guido Neri, a developer and resident of Park Ridge, had a project to build 25 townhomes on an adjacent parcel approved as planned.

Shortly thereafter, the city council voted 5 to 1 (Schmidtzkrieg) to adopt the R-5 zoning map amendment.

The next item on the agenda was final consideration of the ordinance to allow Norwood's Park Ridge 2004 LLC project to be approved. An ordinance for this type of a project is referred to as a PUD (Planned Unit Development). We think this one should be referred to as a DUD!

Norwood's Park Ridge 2004 LLC again insisted they have made every effort to adjust their condominium plan, and that they are "amenable to further discussions" on the issue of senior housing. No one has reported they saw any of Norwood's people with their fingers crossed behind their backs. Still we are pleased to hear the Lord of the Manor motioned to defer consideration of final ordinance approval until such time as a covenant, ensuring that senior housing be maintained on the site, is written into the final ordinance. What a concept! Get it in writing first!

Additionally, the Lord of the Manor had an enumerated list of conditions that would have to be met prior to the council's final consideration of the ordinance on October 15th; one significant item was the inclusion of an on-site Registered Nurse to provide consultation and care for those living in the senior housing units.

We still object, we strenuously object, to the characterization of the 50 senior housing units as senior housing units. What Norwood and Presbyterian Homes is offering the Park Ridge community is nothing more than age-restricted condominium units with a sprinkle of ordinary services offered by most insurance providers, local libraries, community centers, park districts and churches.

In response to the Lord of the Manor's motion to defer final consideration, most of those in attendance became aware that Alderman Allspaghetti's personal power grid had shut down, and his internal digital clock was flashing 12:00. Alderman Allspaghetti urged the council not to defer final consideration of the DUD since the matter had "already been deferred for a year". Alderman Schmidtzkrieg helped Alderman Allspaghetti reset his clock to the correct time by reminding him that the matter had only come before the council last August...not quite two months ago.

Benedict-Alderman Ryan, described by Herb Zuegel in his email as having "done his homework" on the Norwood - Presbyterian Homes project, said he "won't dictate the need for an on-site Registered Nurse; he doesn't know enough about it". Between his absences and incomplete homework, we fear we will have to give Benedict-Alderman Ryan a first quarter failing grade in Alderman 101!

We thought we heard that the Ghost of the 6th ward was present in the room, but we can't be sure. He made no attempt to communicate with the living.

And with that the pod bay doors opened and the motion to defer final consideration was voted upon.

Can you guess the outcome?