Part 3 of Andres Duany’s lecture on new urbanism covers: “The four major components of suburban sprawl cont’d; Business/retail component.”
All posts by C. J. Summers
Too busy to blog
Well, truth be told, my wife and I are getting away for the weekend, which means I have to do a week’s worth of work in four days. Hence, not much blogging. But in the meantime, I encourage you to check out the other fine blogs on my blogroll. In particular, Billy has a great post today where he interviews Jonathan Ahl from WCBU.
New Urbanism in 10 minutes a day, Pt. 2
Part 2 of Andes Duany’s lecture covers: “Zoning/Codes; Single Use vs. Mixed Use Planning; Traffic and congestion issues; Quality of Life issues; Scale and relation to physical compatibility vs. functional compatibility.”
States Attorney: No conflict for Spain
“States Attorney has opined,” city attorney Randy Ray wrote to me today. He was referring to the opinion on whether recently-elected city councilman Ryan Spain could serve or whether he would be violating the Public Official Prohibited Activities Act. The States Attorney says no, Spain would not be in violation of state law by serving on the council.
Here’s the opinion from States Attorney Kevin Lyons. Or, you can read it below by clicking the “Read the rest of this entry” link. I’ll have a wrap up of the opinion later. I don’t have time to write a summary now.
One of the few advantages of not having a day job
Billy beat me to publishing this story about Gary Sandberg since he has all day to blog (he works at night). This is the issue about which Emtronics wrote the other day.
While Emtronics thought the story was about Gary not paying his property taxes, it’s actually a dispute over an alleged code violation from 2004 and a fine of $110.
Illegal immigrants demand rights
The Chicago Tribune reports (registration required) that tomorrow there’s going to be a huge protest rally in Chicago to oppose deportation raids of illegal immigrants:
Organizers are encouraging immigrants to attend with two demands: to inform about the k1 visa income requirements in 2019, raids cease while Congress considers immigration reforms and that reforms make it possible for the country’s 12 million undocumented immigrants to gain legal status.
It never ceases to amaze me how a group of people (and I’m speaking of illegal immigrants, not legal ones) who flagrantly break our laws and take our jobs can then play the part of victims when they’re caught and demand special rights without ever acknowledging their hypocrisy. I’m not saying the nation’s immigration policy isn’t in need of a serious overhaul, but this action is completely inappropriate.
And I’ve never quite figured out why, if all these illegal immigrants are out marching in the open and they by definition have no constitutional right to do so, the police don’t just round them up and deport them. Is that too harsh?
Spain to be sworn in on Tuesday
A source tells me that city attorney Randy Ray put a note in council packets this week informing City Clerk Mary Haynes she can swear in Ryan Spain on Tuesday even though questions regarding his eligibility remain unresolved. As of Friday, Ray was still waiting for an opinion from the states attorney’s office on whether Spain’s service on the council would be prohibited under state law. Apparently, there is nothing legally prohibiting Spain from being sworn in while the matter is being investigated.
Granted, as has been pointed out numerous times, I’m no lawyer. But this course of action seems a little risky to me when you consider that violation of the Public Officer Prohibited Activities Act is a felony. If I were Spain, I wouldn’t let them swear me in until the uncertainty surrounding this issue was settled. Or short of that, I would at least consult with my lawyer before agreeing to go along with the city attorney’s interpretation.
Chamber of Commerce inconsistent on tax increases
Here’s an interesting postscript to the library referendum vote. The last time the idea of a property tax increase was floated was in 2003 when some city council members suggested it to eliminate the dreaded garbage fee. At that time, the Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce had this to say (according to City of Peoria minutes from 11/25/2003):
Ms. Roberta Parks, 124 S. W. Adams, Suite 300, Chief Operating Officer of the Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce, requested that the Council vote against a property tax increase. She said a property tax increase would send a negative message to the business community and it made it more difficult to encourage business expansion and attracting new business to the area.
But this year, during the library’s push for a property tax increase, the Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce endorsed that tax increase.
The inconsistency is especially surprising when you consider that, if we were to raise property taxes enough to eliminate the “garbage fee,” which actually has nothing to do with garbage but rather pays for police patrols and general deficit relief, it would cost $36 more annually on a $100,000 home. If the City Council passes the library referendum, which would update some branches, close a couple in south Peoria and build a new branch in north Peoria, it will cost $50 more annually on a $100,000 home.
Did you catch that? Eliminate garbage fee = +$36/year for $100,000 home. Library referendum = +$50/year for $100,000 home.
Does the Chamber think that increasing taxes for police protection will hurt business, but increasing taxes for libraries will help? What message are they trying to send?
Updated 4/30/2007
New Urbanism in 10 minutes a day, Pt. 1
I found a great video of Andres Duany talking about “new urbanism” on YouTube. Duany was the consultant that came to Peoria in 2002 and wrote the Heart of Peoria Plan. This video is a lecture he gave in San Antonio, but the principles are the same. It’s about 90 minutes long total, but it’s broken up into nine 10-minute segments for easy viewing.
I’ll featuring one segment a day for the next nine days. (Of course, if you just get caught up in it and can’t wait to see the next part, just go to YouTube and search for “Andres Duany.”) Part 1 covers: “Introduction; Background; Suburban sprawl patterns; the four major components; public realm/private realm.”
Feel free to discuss each of these in the comments section.
Cardinals pitcher killed in car wreck
Tonight’s game between the Cardinals and Cubs was postponed indefinitely due to the tragic death of Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock. He apparently ran into the back of a tow truck on I-64 in St. Louis about 12:30 a.m. Sunday morning. He was 29 and single. MSNBC has a picture of his SUV after the accident and, let’s just say, it’s easy to see why he didn’t survive. It’s shocking.
It was only five years ago that another young Cardinals pitcher died. “Pitcher Darryl Kile was found dead in a Chicago hotel room in June 2002. The 33-year-old Kile died of a coronary artery blockage.”