>David Brauer wrote: >We have an interesting real-world issue here in Kingfield. Our local >hardware store, Ace Hardware at 38th & Nicollet, recently purchased two >houses due south of them. Their plan is to demolish both houses and >build a parking lot. Last month, they came to the neighborhood board >(King Field Neighborhood Assn., which I'm president of), asking for our >recommendation to the council that the two properties be upzoned from >residential to commercial so the lot could be built.
David, thanks for the greater detail about this issue. I had read the article in the SW Journal. It clearly shows that there is no one right answer to the issue of housing. I agree with David about Ace Hardware. It is precisely the kind of business that I would like to see thrive in the city. And with KMart likely to disappear, this business will be even more important to the neighborhood. Tough question. Tough vote, but kudos to the Kingfield Board for their vote. Neighborhood associations can simply sidestep these kinds of votes. Our decisions (I speak as president of Lynnhurst Neighborhood Assn.) carry no legal weight. They are merely opinions of what the neighborhood as a whole perhaps feels. But I do believe it is important for neighborhood boards to take up these issues and to voice those opinions. It strengthens the neighborhood board's role and position in the neighborhood and ultimately compels more people in the neighborhood to become active and join the process. Paul Lohman Lynnhurst Paul Lohman [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
