Saturday, June 19, 2010

Letter regarding Andrew M. Martin land use & the City

Letter to the Editor submitted to the Corvallis Gazette-Times by John H. Detweiler:

    On 12/21/09, the City Council voted unanimously to uphold the Land Development Hearings Board's decision to uphold the Community Development Director's interpretation and application of Land Development Code (LDC) provisions and the determination of violation for development activity at the property located at: 5700 SW Reservoir Avenue, subject to the adoption of Formal Findings and Order.

    However, the issue in the Andrew M. Martin affair is not whether or not Mr. Martin followed the LDC. The issue is whether or not Corvallis would be better off if Mr. Martin were allowed to develop his land the way he wants to develop it.

    Quoting from the Corvallis LDC section 1.1.10.02: "The City Council has the following powers... b. May adopt, amend, supplement, or repeal the text of any provisions or regulations ... or the boundaries of zones established on the Official Zoning Map." Plans of any kind have a tendency to be overtaken by events and need to be changed. Corvallis would be better off if the Council had changed the zoning to allow Mr. Martin to develop his land the way he wants to develop it. Our City Council did not exercise its power to make Corvallis a better place and chose instead to stick with a plan that it should have changed.

    John H. Detweiler; web page => www.peak.org~detweij

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