Friday, March 11, 2016

Permitting Affluenza

On March 9, 2016, our wonderful Fort Worth Zoning Commission voted 7-2 in favor of establishing a larger boundary around the historic Stockyards.  I, like many others, are thrilled with their decision and proud of them for representing the people's wishes.

The developers are acting like spoiled brats!  The larger boundary doesn't mean the area can't be developed, it just means more care and consideration will be taken into what is built in the area.  Lord knows permitting oversight in Fort Worth is on the endangered species list.

Just this week, Fort Worth's Asst. City Manager Fernando Costa had to eat some crow regarding permitting problems.  This ain't their first rodeo either.  Fort Worth is knee-deep in permitting snafus by developers who have an over-developed sense of entitlement and who are way too used to asking forgiveness instead of permission.  The developers know all too well that if their permitting problem is ever actually caught, the City won't make them take it down.  Below is just one example.

http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2016/03/07/city-admits-building-code-mistakes-but-neighbors-remain-unhappy/

Developers in Fort Worth seem to enjoy permitting privileges the average citizen could only dream of and our Zoning Commissioners, minus the 2 who sold out, sent a message to developers and elected officials that Fort Worth's history is more precious than money.

By the way, our Zoning Commissioners aren't elected, they are appointed, and I wouldn't be surprised if some of them get booted off the Zoning Commission as a result of their Stockyards-friendly, people-approved, developers-disappointed decision.  We need to support our brave Zoning Commissioners and thank them for speaking up for us.  

I think we should pack City Hall on April 5, 2016 and take note of which City Councilperson represents their citizens and which ones represent the developers.   The ones that don't represent the people need to be voted off the island!










2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Remember way back when, when one of those 2 votes were so against the TRV? Was that when she was appointed to P & Z?

Mary Kelleher said...

I can't recall, but I remember Mayor Price complaining about TRV in 2012 when she was running for election!