On the agenda for the Planning Commission meeting on Thursday,
April 7 at 6:30 p.m. is the City Council requested repeal of
the
”
Shovel Ready
”
exemption to the Residential Development Ordinance. We support
the repeal of this exemption.
Dear Editor,
On the agenda for the Planning Commission meeting on Thursday, April 7 at 6:30 p.m. is the City Council requested repeal of the “Shovel Ready” exemption to the Residential Development Ordinance. We support the repeal of this exemption. Sometimes even the best intentions have unintended consequences.
The shovel ready exemption is a prime example. The normal residential development ordinance process requires developers to compete for building allotments based on a point system that adds or subtracts points for things such as location, traffic impact, and amenities. This process results in only the best projects receiving approval.
The shovel ready exemption allows developments to circumvent this system by meeting five simple requirements which are based solely on the speed by which a project can be built, not on any amenities provided or benefits to the community.
In fact, no new developments have been brought forward. In each of the applications received, all were requests for increased density of existing projects previously approved through the RDO process. Since these projects already held building allotments they were, are and would continue to be shovel ready without the exemption. The increased density requested for these projects substantially changed the projects without providing any benefits to the city or surrounding communities. We would argue that these projects were diminished by the increases in density since amenities were removed to allow for additional units.
The RDO was designed as a tool to control growth and improve the quality of residential developments in our city. Please join us at the council chambers on Thursday, April 7 at 6:30 pm and ask the Planning Commission to maintain the standards of the RDO and forward a recommendation to the City Council to repeal the Shovel Ready exemption.
Thomas and Becky Fischer
