December 6, 2010

Are You Paying Attention?



The PRU Crew and all our faithful PRU readers should, by now, have come out of our Thanksgiving turkey comas.

If you have been paying attention, then you know there's a City Council meeting tonight, at City Hall, beginning at 7:30 pm.

And if you have really really really been paying attention, then you also know the City's Planning and Zoning Commission has recommended to the City Council that the residents of Park Ridge be spared the blight of non-conforming signs.

However, P&Z Commissioners Arrigoni, Piche, Wells and Rifkind believe it is in the best interest of the Park Ridge community to allow a 70% increase in density (8 additional units over the zoning code limit of 12 units for this "high density" district) for the proposed Hoffman Homes condominium development at 1963-1975 W. Touhy Ave., and have recommended the City Council grant a special use for the 3-story, 20-unit condominium development. Did we also mention the allowances for additional lot coverage and decreased set-backs? Flooding, schmudding.

The PRU Crew takes particular note of Commissioner Rifkind's observation of the economics involved -- we must have missed the part of the Planning & Zoning Commission's mandate to ensure economic benefit to developers who ask for lots of extras.

Of course, when developers come asking for extras, they offer amenities to the community from which they are asking for those extras. What will Park Ridge be getting? Affordable housing units.

Be still our beating, bleeding hearts!

Nobody saw this one coming, right? Oh. That's right. We did.

The rest of tonight's City Council agenda should be entertaining, as well -- included under the action items for the Finance & Budget Committee is a "First reading for approval of December 2010 Property Tax Levy – For the Budget Beginning May 1, 2010 and Ending April 30, 2011." B.O.H.I.C.A.!!!

10 comments:

Rorschach said...

I hope the people who live near the proposed Hoffman Homes development are paying attention...because P&Z and the City Council are on the verge of sending them a nice big turd, maybe literally, if this goes through. Rifkind's statement last week was...stupefying.

Ken Hubbs said...

On another note…..

Did anyone see the Spokesman? Is the Mayoral opinion piece a message to the community or a campaign 2011 mail piece? He goes way beyond discussing the issues at hand and lays direct blame at the feet of the Council. He cites three separate issues and then goes on to heap blame directly on “The Council”. I’ve seen previous Mayors use the Spokesman before as a tool to disseminate information on issues. I’ve even seen the prior Mayor use it as a tool to pursue his political spin on various issues. However not even he ever used this publically funded mail piece to directly attack other elected officials.

Anonymous said...

Great. Government subsdized housing and twenty more units on the already flooded real estate market. These guys are pure geniuses.

MIKE said...

Wasn't gonna go tonight but seeing more added on to the agenda, think I'll head on out tonight reguardless.

BTW Notice the Liquor License meeting has be canceled.

Why not go into the council meeting after the animal meeting?

Of course everyone has jobs in the daytime so I guess they have to have to work around that.

M. Anderson said...

Hubbs-

Wietecha did it, too. Perhaps it's a Park Ridge tradition.

Bean said...

M. Anderson,

I don't remember MaRous doing [that].

I guess his tenure was an anomaly, kind of like a clowncil that can manage to actually pass a balanced budget and keep to it.

M. Anderson said...

Bean-

You remember correctly. In the arena of recent Park Ridge Mayors, MaRous was a giant among midgets.

Anonymous said...

Hubbs,

You can call it "blame," but each thing Schmidt said the Council did is what the Council did. That would make it fact. Do you have something against facts?

Ken Hubbs said...

No I have something with people using taxpayer funded resources for political purposes. What happened may be fact, but the implied reason is opinion.

Anonymous said...

Hubbs:

I agree with your take on the spokesmen, but all you can do is commit it to memory. It's just another disappointment (one of many) from a guy I voted for. I have actually had to deal with a great deal of disappointment from people I voted for this week, but I that is another story. When you next get a chance to vote for mayor, remember the things (like this one) he was willing to do.