Tonight's city council meeting may be the end to the Norwood-EOP Space Odyssey. Once the council gets their parliamentary act together, motioning to substitute one PUD ordinance for another or offer amendments as they feel necessary, we hear the final vote count will probably end up 4 to 3 in favor of granting Norwood's Park Ridge 2004 LLC their density variance.
For those of you who don't think 8 extra units and a sham "senior housing" component are good for Park Ridge, you may want to contact the 4 likely "yes" votes: Rich DiPietro (2nd Ward), Jim Allegretti (4th Ward), Bob "the Builder" Ryan (5th Ward) and Tom Carey (6th Ward).
Fifth ward alderman, Bob "the Builder" Ryan, is purported to have privately negotiated with Norwood and then lobbied his fellow aldermen in favor of granting Norwood's request. We're not sure exactly what he "negotiated", but we strongly urge him to remain in the field of traffic engineering, since the plan that is probably going to be approved this evening isn't much of a deal for the residents of Park Ridge.
November 5, 2007
Bob "the Builder" Ryan!
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10 comments:
Sounds like we're back to the good ol' days of the Homeowners Party and the "done deal." Which I guess makes sense, since both Ryan and DiPietro were Homeowners, and Allegretti and Carey sure act like them.
THIS DEAL SMELLS LIKE A REX PARKER
HAS BEEN RESURRECTED. CAN WE THROW IN
A STATUE OF HILLARY TO BOOT!
I have been following the Norwood EOP project very closely, since the early stages. And time has passed, and numerous changes have been made to the original proposal. I and many others alike are NOT satisfied with the situation this issue has brought forth. This development has totally divided our city government and it's residents. Leaving many of us in complete doubt that the elected officials who have chosen the developers over it residents are worthy of a second chance to represent us in future years. You see, like developers who come and go, so can alderman. And if your decision is to sell us out, don't look too far in the future for the chance to do it again. As the face of our town is rapidly changing so is the belief that we have a local government that is looking out for the good of the town and those who choose to call it "Home". When short term, instant gratification, in the moment wheeling and dealing ends. The long memories of those most affected by the end results only just begins. The days of sneaky, quick, pass it through without anyone knowing are OVER. We, the residents, are watching, and in the end we will hold you accountable!
While Rex and I have had our differences, I don't recall him ever jamming through a sweetheart deal for any of the three mayors we served with.
If residents of the 5th Ward or the 2nd Ward or the 4th Ward or the 6th Ward don't want their respective aldermen to vote yes, they should get out tonight and say so. Conversely, residents who want the project to go forward as is should also turn out.
I have never seen a reason for the 8-unit variance the developer wants for EOP, but "senior housing" looks like a borderline fraud on our citizens.
If the developer and its accomplice, Presbyterian Homes, are serious about senior housing, then they need to make a 100% unconditional and legally enforceable commitment to provide a full menu of senior services for an absolute minimum of 20 years at a competitive market price.
But I don't see that in any of tonight's meeting materials posted on the City's website.
Well put, anonymous at 11:09. I have also followed this project very closely since the beginning, and have been both discouraged and inspired by what I have seen. It is discouraging when you don't feel you are being heard by your elected representatives-- and I believe that the majority of Park Ridge is more interested in less than more when it comes to development, especially near the Uptown area. But at the same time, I have been inspired by the tenacity of the many citizens who have remained firm in their resistance to aspects of this project that they feel are wrong, for one reason or another. If our city commissions and council won't step up and send clear messages to developers, the citizens certainly are prepared to do that.
It's a retired cop pulling the strings in the mayoral puppet show.
Can anybody report what happened last night?
so? what happened?
Apologies for keeping you waiting. We've got logistics to manage; today's report post is now up.
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