By: Diane Benjamin
It didn’t take long! The Planning Commission will be hearing a presentation about Missing Middle Housing next Wednesday:
Meeting agenda: https://d3n9y02raazwpg.cloudfront.net/cityblm/22c56154-ab60-11ef-ab4b-005056a89546-71aa7719-c1df-4797-9411-79d5d861f4b4-1748660679.pdf
Staff decided to hire the consultant from Berkeley California. The Opticos mission is right on their website: https://opticosdesign.com/
We are urban designers and architects who believe in the transformative power of beautiful, sustainable, walkable communities for all.
The staff had an agenda or a firm from California would not have been hired as a consultant, especially not one who told them exactly who they are. Agenda by government violates every value this country was founded on. This consultant didn’t look at local data or needs. The goal was to “transform”, not improve.
If you haven’t read the report: https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/3361902/BMM_MMHScan_RevisedFinalDraft.pdf
The evidently far left staff didn’t want an independent report like the Council requested last July. Below is what the Council instructed staff to do on July 22, 2024. This is not what staff did! https://d2kbkoa27fdvtw.cloudfront.net/cityblm/5fdf4780261c6ec901f6277fc8fc14e20.pdf
Will anyone get fired over this?
Not a chance when sitting aldermen have no consequences for violating City Code.
City Manager Jeff Jurgens used to be a lawyer. Maybe he still is. He should know unequal justice only leads to chaos. Obviously it will.
Keep in mind the Council voted to table this indefinitely. Staff doesn’t care how the elected vote. Bloomington has their very own Deep State.
Would they get fired? Point #4 is explicitly addressed by the MMH report, a review of zoning code to meet housing needs. Then the last paragraph you included even specifically allows city staff to bring forward other initiatives to address community housing landscape…
So they will get fired for following council direction and exercising the discretion the council specifically gave them? Or course not. It’s silly to think they are acting outside of council direction.
Jurgens also said staff has a presentation ready for the next council meeting on incentives and rehabilitation (aka actual socialism), which are points #1 and 2 for the council.
Really barking up the wrong tree here (MMH, market based housing options, zoning reform), when the true socialist villain is government handouts and incentives to repair 100 year SFH houses instead of just tearing them down and building low density housing on the lot that actually increases the available housing stock.
You’re funny!
“We are urban designers and architects who believe in the transformative power of beautiful, sustainable, walkable communities for all.” As long as we are handsomely paid and you understand that if this plan doesn’t work out for you, we’ll sell you another plan. No guarantees. No refunds.
How do we protest this unconstitutional action by sraff?
Evidently citizens have to be destroyed before they notice
The bottom line for elbow to elbow zoning (EEZ).
One car limit, no garage.
Reducing parking requirements lowers housing costs, a key feature of Missing Middle Housing (saving ~$47,000 per unit by eliminating garages).
You’ll do less with less and like it. Frees up more tax payer income for…… higher taxes.
The end result is Walkable Ghost Towns (WGT)
Mayor sets the agenda. It will be on the agenda only when the Mayor puts it on the agenda. City Staff tail will FA and then FO that they do not wag the dog. Decatur only has so many positions to absorb ex Bloomington staffers that FO !
#FAFO