Oh, I didn't know that about SHCA boundaries, Ray. Thanks.
But SHCA does tend to represent off-campus homeowners much more than
highrise student residents (has anyone ever met a highrise-resident SHCA
member?). Since the latter neighbors live in blocky 16-story buildings,
their view of "scale" and "massive" might be quite different from that
of a resident on 42nd St. Still, SHCA looks like a good venue in which
to raise questions of scale for those neighbors that are opposed to the
Campus Inn project.
My post didn't "ignore" anything; it modestly addressed the question of
whose job it is to weigh in on an issue of scale, if you'll pardon the
pun. PCPC, as you just noted below, does not see preservation of scale
as its topmost concern in city planning. SHCA and ZBA look more
appropriate for that issue, each in a different way that could be
tactically important.
The Mayor's Office at City Hall is really separate from PCPC, which is
on Arch St. The Mayor's Office is not part of the normal loop for
approval of any development. And there's nobody specifically in charge
of "scale" in the Mayor's Office. You can still go down there if you
want to, and so can Penn.
-- Tony West
Anthony West wrote:
SHCA's warrant doesn't reach east of 40th St.
false. it goes east to 38th street.
http://www.sprucehillca.org/map.html
the rest of your post, like phc and pcpc and shca, simply ignores the
height and scale issue of the proposed hotel. the hotel's massive
height and scale have been at the heart of the opposition to the hotel
since the very beginning, and this opposition to the height and scale
has been publicly voiced, again and again since 2007, in neighbors
writing to uc review, the dp, and the city paper; it has been publicly
demonstrated, repeatedly since 2007, in neighbors testifying at phc,
pcpc, and shca's public meeting. indeed, the height and scale issue
was so important that in dec 2007 the developer himself published
distorted drawings of the hotel in an attempt to minimize the
appearance of its actual height and bulk. and as recently as last week
(sept 16) nilda ruiz and other members of pcpc acknowledged that the
height and scale was 'overbearing', a 'shock' and a 'problem', but
that neighbors would 'get used to it'.
well, the neighbors have not gotten used to it, and the agencies
involved have not gotten used to it. while the developer, with the
help of penn, squeezes their hotel through the mayor's offices at city
hall, the hotel's massive height and scale remains the elephant in the
room. ignoring it each step of the way does not mean approval or
support, in fact, the very attention and effort given to dismissing it
is what's been so necessary to push it this far.
..................
UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN
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