Below is a letter from Mike and Monica Chambers, which was published today in the Milton Herald. Mike and Monica live on Ebenezer Road and like nearly every other nearby resident, they strongly oppose the proposed rezoning of 745 Ebenezer Road.
You would think the nearly unanimous local opposition to the rezoning would matter to every member of our City Council. Well, you would be wrong. In fact, the 2 Council members, Kunz and Lusk, who are heavily promoting the rezoning, have never reached out to residents to solicit their opinions. However, both these politicians are frequently down on Ebenezer. They have been accompanying the builder and a contiguous landowner (who wants to also cash in on “conservation” cluster housing) on marketing tours of the property, heavily promoting the developer’s subdivision.
Now, citizens may not realize it, but a rezoning is a judicial proceeding. City Council members are akin to judges in the these proceedings. And the rezoning applicant, the developer, is akin to a litigant. Are you getting the picture here? What would we think of a judge promoting a litigant’s cause in advance of that litigant’s appearance before him in court?
Furthermore, Milton City Code also has something to say about this:
Section 2.15. – Prohibitions.
(a) No elected official, appointed officer, or employee of the city or any agency or political entity to which this Charter applies shall knowingly:
(1) Engage in any business or transaction or have a financial or other personal interest, direct or indirect, which is incompatible with the proper discharge of official duties or which would tend to impair the independence of his or her judgment or action in the performance of official duties;
So given Mr. Kunz’s and Mr. Lusk’s promotion of the interests of a developer who is days away from appearing before them on a judicial matter, can we say that they are properly discharging their duties and that their judgment is not impaired? Could any reasonable citizen make such an inference based on their full-throated promotion of Brightwater’s rezoning? The answer is NO. Milton citizens, we have a serious governance problem in Milton.
Milton Herald: Ebenezer Road Residents Oppose Cluster Housing
Ebenezer Road is a quiet country road right now. We left the hustle and bustle of a large Milton neighborhood to build our dream home on four acres just down the street from what is now the proposed BrightWater rezoning and variance request. As a young family, we invested in buying land and building our dream home in Milton. All the land around our investment was zoned AG-1, one home per acre. We knew the land on our street would someday be developed but we never thought a rezoning for ¼ lots with experimental community septic would become an option. It seems unfair that the residents of Ebenezer Road should be faced with this change of zoning when we are the true conservationists. We purchased the green space that makes this area so beautiful.
We chose to become part of Milton rather than Roswell when Milton became a city in 2006. We thought that our investment would be best protected by the city that claimed to preserve our rural heritage. BrightWater seeks to use “conservation” as a means to increase density, decrease lot sizes and implement an experimental sewage system for 48 homes a few hundred feet from our home and our well for drinking water.
On June 20th, our city council will decide the fate of our investment along with all of our neighbors. We are not opposed to the land being developed within the restrictions of the current AG-1 zoning. We are opposed to ¼ lots that allow houses placed 15 feet apart. This sort of rezoning has no place in the Agriculture, Equestrian Estate district as specified in our city’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan. Most of all, opposition to this development is almost unanimous by the residents of Ebenezer Road. For everyone in Milton that invested in our community by purchasing homes or parcels on or near AG-1 land, this rezoning request will certainly set a precedent. Your voice in opposition on Monday, June 20th would be greatly appreciated.
Mike and Monica Chambers
Ebenezer Road, Milton
Milton Coalition 