April 23, 2018

First, thank you for your outpouring of support.  In the last 24 hours, over 650 Milton citizens have come to the Milton Coalition blog for information.  There has also been an uptick in folks signing the Milton Coalition petitions for smart land use . . . 20 new signatures and counting.  And I know many of you have written letters to Council and have forwarded my call-to-action email to friends and neighbors.  Thank you.

Please consider coming to tonight’s meeting and speaking.  It is important for Council to hear directly from citizens at Council meetings, and it does make a difference.  Tonight’s council meeting begins at 6 pm and is at City Hall.  You will need to complete and turn in a speaker card, which takes only a minute.

Following are some insights on the tonight’s Crossroads variance hearing.

Outpouring of Citizen Opposition.

My understanding is that Council has received an onslaught of letters in opposition to tonight’s variance request.  So that means that Council will deny the request, right?  The answer is absolutely NOT.  In the past, I have heard various self-serving and ridiculous responses from Council members for disregarding citizen letters.  And I believe that right now a majority of council is leaning toward approving the variance.  Nevertheless, letters do matter, so keep sending them.  Every little bit counts.  And speaking at council matters even more and is critical to beating back this variance request.

It will be interesting to note if any Council Members even mention the overwhelming citizen opposition.  They certainly should.  The November 2017 election was predicated on “shifting power back to citizens.”  What does it say about our Council if they vote to approve the variance in the face of such strong citizen opposition?  Reference to citizen opposition is one (of many) indicators of how Council might vote . . . a positive indicator.

Legal Precedent

Several readers reminded me of the importance of legal precedence with this variance.  Legal precedence is one of the most important reasons for denying this request.  These sorts of decisions have a tendency to ripple throughout our community.  Entirely eliminating the buffer and setback is a really big deal.  Other developers will certainly demand equal treatment.  And of course, granting this variance would put developers in a better position to win future legal battles against citizens.   Think about that undeveloped land near you and the buffers and setback being reduced or even eliminated . . . 

Be aware that tonight a Council Member may ask the City Attorney if a variance approval will set a legal precedent.  This is a cynical ploy to tamp down citizen opposition.  The City Attorney always states that each zoning case stands alone and does not set precedent.  However, remember that the City Attorney’s job is to protect the City.  The City Attorney cannot be recorded to say that a zoning decision sets precedent, as that would hurt the City in future lawsuits.

Creative Math

In making these decisions, each Council member has to go through a calculus of sorts.  There are upsides and downsides.  Pros and cons.  However, in this case, even under the worst case scenario, I do not understand how any Council Member could vote for this variance.  So what is the worst case?  The developer builds 30 homes instead of 25 and the separation between houses goes from 10 feet to 0 feet.  So to get this result for citizens, what is the cost?  The downside?  The cons?  Well, since you asked . . .

1. A loss of citizen confidence and trust in government, resulting from rejecting overwhelming citizen opposition.
2. Encouragement of corruption and loss of confidence in government resulting from a disregard for the rule of law.  Variances require a finding a hardship.
3. A dangerous legal precedent is established–i.e., buffers and setbacks can be more easily reduced or eliminated.
4. Encouragement of other developers to threaten Council to bend the rules for their benefit.  In approving this variance, council would continue a long history of indulging developers that has resulted in vast amounts of staff and Council time being spent on ridiculous developer proposals.  This vicious cycle needs to be ended once and for all.  A line must be drawn in the sand.
5. Loss of over 1 acre of greenspace at the same time the City is buying greenspace.  That makes absolutely no sense.
6. A chance to create an even better development with a buffer.  Council is overlooking the possibility that the developer might actually come back with a better proposal that includes the buffer.

And remember that the worst case scenario is a threat and likely a bluff, as we have witnessed many times in the past.  Folks,  the bottom line is that the calculus for approval just does not pencil out.

Striking A Good Deal For Citizens?

Beware.  If it seems the variance is going to be approved, you will see conditions added to approval of the variance.  This is standard practice in these proceedings.  It is meant to make citizens and Council members feel better about the outcome.  However, the addition of conditions is mostly political theater and meant to provide cover for an unpopular vote.  You must understand that developers view these proceedings as a negotiation from Day 1.  Accordingly, they generally submit proposals that they know are prima facie unacceptable.  This creates negotiating “head room” while allowing Council to save face.  Additionally, over the past 2+ years, I have noticed that Council is a terrible negotiator.  (I say this as someone who has taught classes and written articles on negotiation.)  Council consistently makes rookie mistakes, like negotiating with themselves and laying all their cards on the table.  It can be painful to watch.  But make no mistake about it . . . approval of a variance with conditions would be the classic Pyrrhic victory.  Council needs to stand strong and deny this variance.

Please consider speaking at tonight’s council meeting.  Let’s once again face down developers that are seeking to bend and break our rules through coercing Council.  Let’s stand up for the rule of law.  Let’s make it clear to Council that citizens are in charge.  As always, thank you for your strong support for good governance in Milton.

Advocating For Smart Land Use,

Tim Becker