By: Diane Benjamin
I hope you haven’t forgotten the Town of Normal billed Stan Nord for fees they “forgot” to charge 3 or 4 owners previous for tapping into the sewer system. The Town had no liens on the property, he was told to pay when he started publicly speaking against Town policies – like the massive debt.
Normal’s assault on the property rights of EVERY citizen of Normal cost Stan Nord $11,904: https://blnnews.com/2020/03/17/normal-a-council-of-frauds/
EVERY citizen could find themselves in the same situation as Stan. If you don’t “kiss the ring” Normal will look for what they can do to you too. That won’t change until the people in charge are swept out!
So why did I recap history?
I did it because of what happened Monday night with the Council voting to “initiate” zoning changes for the benefit of a Koos buddy.
Recent history: Stan Nord was dragged before the Planning Commission because he dared to add rock to his property on West College. The Koos friendly media tried to paint Nord as non-compliant, of course forgetting about the $11,904 he didn’t owe but paid anyway. They also ignored emails that proved Stan was working with the Town to resolve issues, but they happily printed an email they didn’t receive by FOIA – it was leaked to them just to attack Stan. https://blnnews.com/2020/02/21/remember-the-letter-leaked-to-wglt-about-stan/
Back to Monday night. We know staff has already invested around 40 hours softening up the neighbors to except a microbrewery at One Normal Plaza, the property is owned by a Planning Commission member – Bob Broad.
The Council voted to “initiate” the process, in other words – fast track it Planning Commission. Without explanation, the Planning Commission meeting for Thursday night (tomorrow) was cancelled: https://normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/3611
Mercy Davidson (Town Planner) claimed Monday night approval could be on the Council agenda June 2nd. Mercy was set to publish Public Hearing notices for the Thursday meeting. Unless a special meeting is called by the Planning Commission, June 2nd isn’t going to happen.
Is there a chance the Planning Commission members revolted because one of their own was given special treatment? Were neighbors planning to voice opposition? We don’t know why the meeting was canceled.
When Stan was hauled in front of the Planning Commission the chairman described the duties and responsibilities of the commission:
Planning Commission minutes from March 5, 2020: https://normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/3578
Excerpt from Page 1:
Did the Planning Commission decide the Council didn’t have the right to usurp them as “gatekeepers of the code” by passing an “initiative”?
Probably not because they are all Koos appointees, but somebody should say why the meeting was cancelled. Since these meetings aren’t on video and the public can’t attend, it wasn’t a good idea to hold it anyway.
This is exactly what happens when some believe rules do not apply to them.
Several years ago I tried to buy shoes at mayor, at that time he was an alderman, Koos’s shoe/bike shop. I noticed at that time his handicap parking spaces were blocked for a long period of time. That spoke volumes to me, and I see he still believes he is better than others.
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I know Stan and the history of his crap with Normal. The shit show recently in the news was not his first run-in with Normal.
When Stan “skipped a step” he immediately contacted the town and started to rectify the problem. He jumped through all of their hoops. You should ask him the extent of what he had to do and pay in total. We regularly add gravel to places all over McLean County. His was BASIC. We never had to deal with some of the crap he put up with. Call him, he will tell you. (Personally I think his willingness to share has caused him more problems with Normal.)
In the case of the Broads development, Normal is strategically going this route to use council influence to ensure a positive outcome for people with an obvious political conflict. It is about money and politics.
Rules in Normal have applied differently depending on your relationship with certain people for a long time. I tell my clients to stomach whatever Normal asks or you will spend more or scrap the build. Peterson was vindictive to anyone who challenged him. The staff all learned from him.
Dave Anderson was THE BEGINNING of the WHOLE uppity mess when he went into the “golf course” business at Ironwood, and some land owners did NOT want to sell, so he gave “eminent domain” rights to the developer-in exchange for giving the course to uptown, who THEN went back and basically told the owners “take MY OFFER” or I’ll go to court. THAT was the beginning of uptown being an Arrogant A** showplace!
So since he was the A** emulate, they named a park after him, PROPERLY FITTING!