May 21, 2017
Citizens:
The Milton Coalition thanks you for your tremendous support over the past 18 months. We appreciate your trust and confidence. Together, we have accomplished a lot, but there is still much to be accomplished.
After letting the Milton Coalition blog go dormant for the last 6 months, we are re-launching the blog based on a deluge of requests from citizens. We will be publishing new posts every day between now and the election in November. We will not pull our punches. As always, we will tell the unvarnished truth.
Many citizens have reached out to the Milton Coalition since last Monday’s City Council meeting. As many of you know, Council approved 5-2 the rezoning of 3 properties on Hopewell Road just south of Vickery Crest. This rezoning was approved by Council despite:
- Staff’s recommendation against approval
- The Planning Commission’s unanimous recommendation for denial. This approval is yet another in a long string of rezonings where Council has overridden recommendations for denial from the Planning Commission. Disgraceful!
- Violating the Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP), which was just approved by Council in October 2016. The CLUP designates these parcels as Agricultural, Equestrian, Estate (AEE). After considerable debate, the comprehensive plan advisory committee (CPAC) made a deliberate decision to designate these parcels as AEE.
- Doubling the number of homes that this property would likely support under its AG-1 zoning, thereby exacerbating traffic congestion, overcrowded schools, and other problems associated with high density housing.
- Overwhelming opposition of citizens, as expressed in two petitions; many hundreds of letters to Council; and many hundreds of public comments at City Council meetings.
We consider this rezoning a violation of the public trust. Citizens, it is time to take action! Since Monday, we have seen a spike in signatures to the Milton Coalition petition based on only 1 posting at a social media site. Thank you! If you have not signed our petition, please join over 1800 civic-minded citizens that have already signed the petition. And please leave a comment. Following is link to the petition:
More importantly, citizens need to vote in November. We need to remove Council Members that consistently cast votes that bend, break, and change the rules to the benefit of developers . . . and to the detriment of citizens.
Please refer to our Milton Coalition Action Guide to learn more about how you can become more involved in advocating for good governance in Milton.
Please return daily to our site to get the latest news on Milton City government and politics.
Advocating For Citizens,
The Milton Coalition
Milton Coalition 