Recently, Ward and I attended a public meeting for our county's planning commission. It was for the approval of new development in our neighborhood. We wanted to learn more about it and support the neighbors who were going to try to convince the commissioners that it was a bad idea. You know how it is. No one ever wants their neighborhood to change-especially if it's going to bring more traffic.
We had no idea what to expect, but we left early in case of traffic problems. We found the building and meeting room and then waited and watched as others arrived. The meeting began promptly and was a mix of commissioners both in person and virtually. There were also several other support people. We were not sure of their roles, but they were experts of some kind or another who got asked various questions about procedures and laws throughout the hearings.
Here was the first surprise. We were number two on the agenda. Well, surprise may not be the right word because we didn't know what was going to happen. But we naively thought that the commission was meeting to discuss only our issue. Naive might not be the right word here either; foolish might be more accurate.
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| One of the houses from the first case. |
Anyway, the first case took over three hours. Three hours of tedium with occasional interesting bits here and there. It was about an older neighborhood that has been fighting a housing development going in next to them since 2006. In 2014, they agreed to the development but were there fighting road changes that would happen with it. Wow, they were organized. I think everyone who lived in the neighborhood either spoke in person or on the phone, including a little girl who haltingly read a statement asking for them not to take away her magical neighborhood. We heard about the historic houses, some built in the 1800s, and 90-year-old Miss Betty, who won't be able to safely get her mail if they change the roads. Despite their valiant effort, the development plan was approved, new roads and all. That crowd left with pledges to renew their efforts to declare their block a historic neighborhood as another way out of the situation.
After a 30-minute lunch break, our case was up next. The development group and their engineer presented their plans. The commissioners asked a few clarifying questions, and then the floor was open for public comment. There were quite a few who spoke on behalf of our neighborhood, making excellent points, but in the end, it didn't matter. After an hour and a half of discussion, this plan was approved, also. I was somewhat discouraged by the whole process. The commissioners can only follow whatever current regulations are and can't act outside of them, even if it makes sense to do so.
But all was not a loss. Ward and I were intrigued by the idyllic area we heard about in the first case, so we visited it this past weekend. And along the way, we found a place to take a short hike. A pleasant outing that we were able to fit in between rain showers. Here are a few pictures of our morning.
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| Our walk took place on grass paths around various ponds. |
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| If what we heard was any indication, the area was home to many frogs. |
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| And the geese loved it there. |
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| Yellow iris popped up here and there. |
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| On the way home, we saw this jet in someone's front yard. I wish I knew the story behind it. |
