Yesterday afternoon the Mayor had a small business meeting with a large turn-out. During Q&A time, I, of course, asked the mayor about the issue of 1/4 mile spacing of supportive housing and other difficult to place facilities, whether the city would be enforcing its own laws in the future or changing them, and emphasized the impact of this issue on the decisions of potential developers who may be interested in Whittier/Stevens Square/ Phillips. The Mayor made no comment and asked Gary Schiff to jump in, and he (Schiff) said, "Well we're being sued on this now. There won't be any changes until the suit is resolved." I reminded Gary that there were in fact two suits, and that was that.
If Schiff's statement can be taken at face value, the City will then not be proposing any changes to the 1/4 mile spacing law (chapter 536.20) next month as has been predicted. In fact it should then be a long time. The Lydia House suit goes to oral arguments in State Court the first week of December, 2002, with a likely ruling in 30 to 90 days, appeals to follow. The Collaborative Village Initiative suit from Ventura Village is still in the early stages of discovery with no trial date yet set in Federal Court. Please correct me if I'm getting this wrong. After the meeting Erik Takeshita stopped us to explain that there was a process for changing the 1/4 mile spacing law that would include adequate community input. I asked that he put that process on paper, and related to him that due to the Lydia House Debacle, the trust level in our neighborhoods is extremely low, that we've experienced city hearings as a cruel joke on the neighborhoods due to the pre-arranged out-comes dictated by a Council member, regardless even of City law. He said he would be happy to put the process on paper. Erik asked me if the Issues Forum would be a good place for outlining the process. I think so, so we all can be informed as to whether the impacted neighborhoods of the North and South-Side can expect the same opportunities for helping shape City policy that the Shelter Advisory Board has enjoyed for the last 18 months or so. We certainly would welcome that, and hope this might be a positive sign. So I'm still wondering, what is the Mayor's position on 1/4 mile spacing of supportive housing and the SAB's proposal to eliminate any spacing, either through outright repeal or revamped "definitions"? When will fortress neighborhoods be challenged to do their fair share? Of course, the fortresses could volunteer also. More silence. Tom Berthiaume Whittier, Stevens Square, Loring Park, Navarre _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
