in Growth, Transportation
Out of The Box Transportation Idea #3… Say No to Growth
Summit County hired a transportation consultant to provide ideas on how to limit traffic in and around Park City. The County did not like the actions they suggested (the consultant suggested buses) and asked for more creativity. We had written that the County now at least owns the problem. Readers then responded to us saying that if it was so easy, why don’t we provide some “creativity.” Last week we provided two ideas we hadn’t heard being discussed. Today we present our favorite out-of-the-box idea that we believe makes so much sense in solving traffic problems, it should actually be the entire box.
Over the holiday break, we watched Back to the Future 3 — the second best of the franchise’s movies. In the movie, a time traveling Christopher Lloyd (Doc) and Michael J Fox (Marty) go back to the wild west. A picture, brought back from the future, shows that Doc is going to be shot because his name is on a picture of a tombstone (and then disappears after a series of events). Marty says “This tombstone could still be your future.” Doc replies, “Marty, the future isn’t written. It can be changed. You know that. Anyone can make their future whatever they want it to be.”
That’s how we feel about Park City and Summit County. Yet, we continually hear that by 2040 Park City will have a gazillion people in it. There is nothing that can be done and we have to plan for it. To do that, we will build underground rail and put hundreds of buses on the road at any one time. We’ll need 10 lane roads. We’ll have to convince people to take public transportation by charging people $5 an hour to park anywhere . We need to shut down all traffic to inner Park City. We’ll have to build a third exit out of Park City (to provide an alternative to 224 and 248). We’ll tunnel through mountains. We’ll spend billions if we have to. No, we’ll spend tens of billions. “We have no choice!,” they cry.
But we do have a choice.
Say no to growth.
“Impossible!”, you say? No, we’ve just been led to believe that. Whether it’s in the Park Record or on TV, we are constantly bombarded with a statistic from 2010 by the Governor’s office that says the Park City area will grow by 85% in the next 25 years. It’s stated as if it’s a fact; however, it’s just a projection. The events on the ground will dictate growth. There are all sorts of events from natural disasters to another Great Recession that could limit growth. The question is whether policies and planning could limit that growth and thus limit traffic problems. We firmly believe the answer is yes.
Take the simple example of the Park City School District allowing the High School to remain open to outside enrollment (i.e. out of district students can attend PCHS). They did this, allegedly, because they didn’t have a policy in place for how to handle existing out of district students. We’ll ignore the direct financial cost for now, but will point out that there will be more cars on the road because of this decision. You can also look at the plan to make Jeremy Ranch a “receiving area for density.” What that means is that they will likely allow condos to be built on a 12 acre piece of land near the Jeremy Store. That’s 100-200 condos — with three to four people per condo. That policy decision would increase our population by 400-800 people. That’s new people out of thin air. Down the road, between Jeremy Ranch Elementary and Burt Brothers, there is more open land that could be rezoned and will likely include condos. Right now, that’s zoned as 1 house per 20 acres. So, in that area… you could have maybe 4 houses with the existing zoning (maybe 12-16 people) or you could rezone and have a 1,000 new people.
It goes beyond decisions to purely limit land use. There are many parcels of land with existing rights, which must be respected. Take for example, the 1,000+ units to be built near Home Depot. The owner has the right to build something there. However, we don’t believe the County has any obligation to ensure that there’s not a traffic jam getting out of the area every day. If it’s known that day-to-day living isn’t going to be easy in some of these locations, there will likely be less buyers and less building.
Another example is affordable housing. The County could remove the requirements for building affordable housing. Perhaps, instead they could make a requirement for building temporary housing (or fee in lieu) to go to the Peace House or Mountainlands Community Trust. Don’t make it cheap to live here.
They could also update the General Plan to say that we don’t want growth. Make changes to the development code to limit the number of units on land by requiring large setbacks, limiting height (even more than they do), or specific structural components that make our buildings better but more expensive.
The County could not issue a conditional use permit to Vail to connect their gondola between PCMR and Canyons. A one sided Gondola doesn’t go anywhere.
There are literally hundreds of ways that growth could be impacted via policy. Granted, not all of them may be palatable, but it’s possible. The point is that through policy, growth can be limited. This is something entirely within the control of our government leaders. Otherwise, they are left on the defensive trying to clean up after a problem has materialized. It is far better to manage the event than the result. The County put in rules regarding burning after Rockport fire, to try and prevent another one. Why not do the same thing here?
Of course, this course of action wouldn’t appeal to certain groups within our community. There is the building industry. There would be less to build, although there is quite a bit of land already OK’d for development. There are the real estate agents who would have less houses to sell (although there are still a ton of houses). There are the land owners who would love to be able to get rid of existing rules and let them build a dollar store next to your house. The issue is, however, these views are all about them and not Park City. It’s about what would be good for them and not what would be good for our community. Do we want what’s good for Vail or what’s good for Park City? If they happen to overlap, great… if not, we want what’s good for Park City.
That said, there are some negatives to limiting growth. Without growth, unless property values rise, property tax revenues stay at the current levels. This means either limiting expense growth in our schools (to match growth in property values) or raising taxes. Likewise, if tourism is maintained at existing levels, that means sales tax is kept at current levels. That means there is not more money to increase government spending. It would really require fiscal discipline, which again may not be palatable.
So, there you have it … our third crazy idea. LIMIT GROWTH. Solve transportation problems by not having transportation problems. We really think it makes a lot of sense and is likely the only one that really solves the problem. We do realize that there will be some growth around Park City, regardless, and that growth won’t be STOPPED. Land owners are entitled to their current rights. However, with only small growth over the next 20 years, we could probably all learn to deal with the occasional bad traffic day (it would happen no matter what we do) and we’d learn to stay out of town around the holidays (just like we do at Sundance).
The main point, though, is that we are all in control of our future. We can decide to complain about traffic and growth in Park City. We can continue to say, “Park City ain’t what she used to be.” Or we can do something about it. One logical way to control the future is to decide what is really important. If we really want to “Keep Park City Park City,” we can start today and say no to growth. We can fight it on each street corner and in every meeting. Or we can let the growth happen and try to deal with the consequences.
It’s our future. We just need to decide what we want and go make it happen.
in Dogs
Is There a More Disrespectful Group of Dog Owners Than Skate Skiers Who Ski With Their Dogs?
First. We love dogs. We think Park City is a special place thanks to our dogs. We also believe the “war on dogs”, which was started by the Summit County Council a couple of years ago is rightfully over. There’s an off leash dog park that you can actually hike with your four-legged companions and rules regarding dogs have been tightened up (for the better).
All that being said, is there a more disrespectful group of dog owners that those that skate ski with their dogs? Is that a sweeping generalization? Yes. Are their likely some very conscientious skate skiers? Probably.
Yet, we just can’t help but notice how out of control and unmanaged most dogs seem to be with their skate skiing humans. We’re not sure if it’s the extra equipment that they need to put on that causes them to ignore their dogs at trail-heads. Is it too much of an effort to make sure your dog stays close to you, so they don’t end up running in the road? Do you ever wonder why your dog never poops when you are out skate skiing with them? Note, that’s because they do poop but either it’s too much effort to pick it up or they are 2 miles behind you on the trail and you never see it.
So we implore you — skate skiing dog owners. Please be a little more considerate or you’re are going to screw it all up for the rest of us.
in Growth
Utah Is Growing… But Maybe Not For the Reasons Most of Us Think
One of the myths that has been popularized is that Utah’s population growth has been driven by outsiders migrating to Utah since they witnessed how wonderful our state was during the 2002 Olympics. This then drives the image of thousands of people moving from all across the country to Park City. However, recently released data by the US Census Department shows how far that is from the truth.
From August 2013 through July 2014, Utah added more than 40,000 people. This was nearly twice the average US growth rate and we were ranked the 8th fastest growing state in the nation. Yet, where did most of those people come from? Their mothers. 90% of Utah’s growth in 2013 was due to more births than deaths. There was only a net migration of 4,000 people to Utah in 2013. If we look at that net migration, international migration (mainly from returning missionaries) was + 5,465. Net Migration domestically (within the U.S.) was actually negative at – 1,235. So, in terms of people within the US coming to or leaving Utah, more people left Utah to go elsewhere than came here to live.
This was similar to the two previous years where population increased by about 40,000 (2011-2012) and 47,000 (2012-2013) persons… with births accounting for about 90% of that growth. Domestic migration was -80 and +5,000 persons in those two years.
That said, this isn’t to say necessarily that the expected 85% growth of Summit County’s population by 2040 won’t happen. It may or may not. However, it’s important we understand how we get to that estimated number. The “how” is important because it should impact policy decisions. If we grow from 36,000 to 67,000 people in Summit County by 2040, that’s an extra 31,000 people. Yet 28,000 of those would be from Utah births. That’s a different economic group than imagining 30,000 people are going to be transplanted from the Upper East Side of Manhattan to Old Town.
If we are going to get that growth, it’ll likely be from life-long Utahns deciding they need to escape the air quality of the Salt Lake Valley. It will be your average joe who works an insurance job or is in construction. Of course, if houses appreciate at the long-term average of 3% a year, in 2040 the average house will cost $1.9 million. So, I guess we’ll see how all that works out.
What we do know is that Utah is growing, but it may not be for reasons we have become accustomed to. And that difference may make all the difference in the world when it comes to envisioning what we want our community to be.
Outside of the Box Thinking on Transportation
We received an email regarding yesterday’s post about Summit County government now owning the transportation problem. The email basically called us out and said alright “smart guy” why don’t you give us some innovative solutions if it’s so easy. First, if you’ve been reading our stuff you know that we aren’t very smart. We just like to blather on. Second, we don’t think a solution will be easy at all. Yet, if there is truly a problem to be solved then someone has to solve it. That someone now appears to be our city and county officials.
That said, we’ve got three ideas we haven’t heard anyone talk about. Here are two of them (we’ll save the third for later):
Gondolas
Yes gondolas, and we don’t mean the type you see in Venice. We mean the large aerial trams you’ll find in Europe, Austin, and coming to New York City. They cost 1/10th the price of light rail and move almost as many people per hour. Imagine a transit hub where the Boyer Tech Park is supposed to go. Gondolas go to Canyons, PCMR, Main Street, Silver Summit, Jeremy Ranch/Pinebrook, Richardson Flats, The High School, and across 224 to Kimball Junction. They travel at 25 miles per hour and would come every few minutes. they have the added benefit of being associated with ski resorts. So, having gondolas hanging in the air doesn’t really detract from our resort community. It would be a little slower than a car but not much. This, like any other form of transportation, would need to be combined with disincentives to get people out of their cars but it has a number of advantages that other forms of transportation just can’t meet.
Build the New Treasure Mountain Middle School in the Parking Lot of Park City High School
Imagine that Park City High School Students could no longer drive to school. Imagine that there was no parking for the Eccles Theater for Sundance. How much traffic would that take off of 248, especially during winter when school traffic and ski traffic combines to create road rage and a parking lot on 248? Perhaps a permit is required for parents to drop their children off as well, so that we don’t trade student vehicles for parent vehicles. So, build a school in the Parking Lot and make parking a non-option. Have people park at Richardson Flats and get bused in (or take the gondola per our idea above). Granted, we aren’t sure it would even fit but we are sure it would kill two birds with one stone: less traffic and the school district wouldn’t have to buy land for the new Treasure Mountain school. It also starts to look at solving our traffic issues incrementally versus trying to fix everything in one fail swoop.
Are these ideas crazy? Maybe. Would they work? They’d have to be analyzed. However, if our elected officials really want something creative, they are going to need a 100 crazy ideas and maybe a few will actually make sense. The thing is, crazy ideas aren’t comfortable. Sure buses and light rail are comfortable. They’ve all been done before but do they work for Park City? We saw the report from the transportation consultants and it looks like the bus option, while comfortable, is a non-starter. Next people will probably look at light rail. Good luck finding $30 million per mile for construction and who really wants that in their backyard? We really believe a combination of crazy ideas is likely the only solution that is feasible.
So, it should be interesting to see if our leaders, who are bright, are also inventive enough to come up with something that is just crazy enough to work.
Summit County Government Now Owns Our Transportation Problems
Did Summit County Council members commit the cardinal sin by trashing a recent transportation study designed to find solutions to potential transportation problems? Probably … and that’s a good thing.
A few months ago Summit County started a transportation study, predicated on a Governor’s Office report that says population will grow by 85% in the Snyderville Basin by 2040. The County paid a consulting company $135,000 to hold public meetings and recommend a course of action. The Park Record now reports that Summit County officials are displeased with transportation study results. Council member Roger Armstrong said, “Rather than bring us something that didn’t work, I would have loved to see some creativity. I think that is what I was expecting and what I thought we were paying for but it’s not what we got and I was disappointed. I didn’t feel like it was creative. We need to take a step back and start to think of transit issues differently.” County engineer Leslie Crawford said, “We were promised innovative solutions and I don’t think we got that. I definitely have my job cut out for me to come up with some innovative solutions and the stuff we need to explore. And I think it will help us succeed in the long run.”
So, what was the “solution” proposed by the consultants in the report? Buses. We know. That’s not exactly revolutionary. However, that’s not really the takeaway from the study. Here is what we got from the report, given the stated goal of keeping traffic at today’s level:
- In the future, public transportation will need to handle 45% of all people traveling around the basin. Right now it handles about 5.5%.
- In 2040, daily public transportation will need to serve 133,000 passengers per day (or 22 million annually) to keep traffic at today’s volume. Right now, all of UTA serves 21 million riders per year.
- 282 buses will need to be in operation at one time versus 16 now.
- In order to incent enough people to use public transportation, a mandatory charge of $4-$5 per hour for parking across Park City and the Snyderville Basin would need to be enacted.
- A bus system to handle the stated passenger load would cost $43 million annually to operate. Right now the entire Summit County budget is about $50 million.
So, our officials have said they were disappointed in the recommendation of buses and that they were looking for something more creative. Yet what the report really highlights is the problem that has to be solved. We now know we have to find some way of getting 133,000 people off the road every day. We just have to find a solution. When we say “we“, we really we mean our elected officials and government employees are now tasked with finding a solution. They basically called their consultant’s report a rehash of everything that was already known and said we needed to start over. However, they already spent $135K on that rehash.
So, it is our opinion that they blew their wad and now its up to them to come up with an idea or two that will solve our problem. As the old saying goes, “don’t criticize unless you have a solution.” To her credit, Leslie Crawford, the County Engineer, has stated that it is now obvious the County needs to come up with the right solution. We applaud her initiative. We just hope that the county can back up the bravado.
So, why do we say they committed the cardinal sin?
Simple. There are competing entities (Summit County, Park City, Wasatch County, UTA, Mountain Accord). Any solution will be expensive. The proposed problem is 20-30 years off. There is no easy solution here.
Therefore, succeeding is an almost impossible task. Yet since this has been labeled as one of the most important issues that the county faces and they were willing to spend $135,000 on consultants, we know that failure is not an option. So, we are in the hands of the Summit County Council (Roger Armstrong, Claudia McMullin, Kim Carson, Dave Ure, and Chris Robinson), the County Engineer (Leslie Crawford), the Summit County Community Development department (headed by Pat Putt), and a few others. If they succeed in devising a logical plan that meets the communities need they should be rewarded either through re-election or increased salaries. If they fail then they should face the appropriate consequences.
We have smart people involved in our government. In some ways it’s good that they are now personally responsible for the success or failure of finding a solution to one of the most important issues facing Summit County. Now, instead of getting mad at the drivers around you as you wait in afternoon ski traffic, you have someone personally to blame. Do we really think [pick a name] can solve this crisis by themselves? No. But will that scrutiny and focus perhaps drive our leaders to actually come up with something? Yes.
We’ll be waiting to hear about some of those out of the box ideas.
in Huh?
Damn Cold!
We can’t wait to hear this one today…. “See Cletus, I told you there wasn’t any global warming.”
Do You Like Park City’s New Bus Tracking App? Do You Know What it Cost?
Do you like Park City’s new bus tracking iPhone App? What, you hadn’t heard of it? That’s OK, you may want to check it out. It’s actually kind of cool… and of course, you paid for it.
In 2011, the Park City City Council unanimously voted to contract with Avail Technologies to add GPS (global positioning system) technology to its buses. Along with the GPS came an iPhone app that anyone could use to track the buses. What was the cost? $1.2 million.
Now to be fair, the federal government chipped in 80% of the funds, so the city and county only paid $247,000 for it. Yet, we seem to remember that 2011 was still pretty rough economically around here. Government employees were being let go (or jobs not backfilled) and we kept hearing that our roads weren’t going to be maintained to proper levels unless taxes were raised. But… there was enough money to add GPS tracking to our FREE buses?
[We almost can’t write this without chuckling in sadness]
What’s so aggravating from a citizen’s point of view is three fold:
- Projects like this are often justified by pointing out that federal or state funds will be used or a grant will be obtained. While that sounds good, and we suppose it is better than directly spending millions on a project like this, those are still OUR tax dollars be spent (you pay federal taxes right?). If we aren’t willing to say say NO to projects like this that aren’t really needed, we really can’t complain when the state “equalizes” property tax revenues and sends our taxes to West Valley. If someone in North Dakota is paying for our GPS bus tracking with the federal taxes, why shouldn’t we pay for some kid’s education in Nephi?
- The money has been spent; now Park City should make the most of this opportunity. Do you have an iPhone? Try to find the app in the IOS App Store. We dare you. We know, you tried to type in ‘Park City Bus’ into the app store search box. We bet you got Roof Jumping Stunt Driving Parking Simulator and 97 other entries. Roof Jumping is a great game but not quite what you are looking for. If it was in the other 97 results the search returned, we didn’t see it. If you go to the web on your computer, and type in ‘Park City Bus Schedule’, you’ll probably end up selecting Park City Bus: Routes & Schedules. No iPhone app is listed here either… but you can get to a web page with current bus locations by selecting the fourth option, Real-time AVL Bus Tracker. We suppose this does a lot of what the iPhone app does but are you going to really use a web page on your computer? No. What would we expect for a million dollars? Make it easy for both residents and visitors to download the app. That shouldn’t be hard.
- It always costs more than it is supposed to. This was supposed to cost $1.23 Million. Park City has paid $1.33 million to date. In addition to that there are long-term costs. There is the maintenance of existing systems. There is the added equipment required on any new bus. There is also likely a maintenance charge from the vendor. While we are sure there are benefits to the people who manage the buses (ability to monitor on-time performance, ability to monitor mechanical status remotely, etc), the system has already cost 10% more than it was supposed to. That will likely just keep increasing.
It’s not that we are anti-technology. In fact, we think it can provide great benefits. However, in this case we just don’t see the cost/benefit panning out. That said, since you bought it, you should try the app. Search for “MyStop Mobile” in the iPhone App store. What, you don’t ride the bus? Oh well.
in Huh?
This Christmas Miracle May Not Turn Out So Merry
It was 7 AM on Christmas Eve and our 2 1/2 year old yells at the front window, “There goes Cement Mixer Melvin!”. Cement Mixer Melvin is a cement mixer from one of his books. We dismissed his comment and admired his creativity. It was 12 degrees outside after all. Who would pour concrete when it was that cold? We thought, “now that would be a miracle.” Less than 5 minutes later the cement mixer came around the block again and we saw it with our own eyes.
An hour later we headed down the street and saw that indeed they were pouring concrete. Granted, it was now a balmy 14 degrees. At that point we figured maybe we didn’t really know much about concrete. Perhaps the practice is normal? We usually like to stay out of other people’s business but we were worried that that this house will likely be sold to some person this spring and they will have no idea about this (if it truly is a problem). So, we decided to call the Summit County Building Office and ask if there were any development codes related to the temperature at which concrete can be poured. The very helpful gentlemen said that concrete temperature was a procedural matter and it was really up to the discretion of the contractor. He pointed us to the American Concrete Institute and said they had good guidelines. He left us with a very apropos comment. He said his dad did concrete for many years and that it was one of the hardest things to do. He concluded that concrete that was done well is great; concrete that isn’t will turn into a nightmare.
So, it sounds that “legally” concrete could be poured at minus 30. However what does the American Concrete Institute (ACI) recommend? Here is their recommended table:
We read about the ACI guidelines and the problem is we could never find any recommendations for what to do when the temperature was that low. These are some of our observations:
- The ground should be above 32º F when the concrete is poured, or there could be a freezing layer of concrete that doesn’t set well against the ground.
- If there will be a thaw and refreeze, concrete with higher psi (tensile strength) is required.
- Favorable temperates are needed while the concrete cures and the time it needs to cure is impacted by the temperature (colder temps require longer curing).
- Protect from early age freezing.
So, what were the temperatures since the 24th:
24th – Low: 8º / High: 37º
25th – Low 18º / High: 34º
26th – Low 9º / High: 27º
27th – Low -1º / High: 29º
28th – Low 12º / High: 26º
We don’t see any 40º temperatures. We do see a negative temp. We also see some freezing and thawing. All in all, it looks cold.
What does all that mean? We’re concerned that the foundation that was poured on that cold Christmas Eve and continued to cure through freezing temperatures may not end up being sound. However, we don’t know all the details and aren’t experts in concrete. Perhaps a “new fangled” cold temperature concrete was used. Perhaps they had heated all the dirt to over 32º. Who knows?
What we do know is that if you are buying a newly constructed house this spring in Jeremy Ranch, you may want to ask a few questions about how it was constructed. More importantly you may want to have your inspector take a hard look at the foundation and then ask a few more questions.
in Development
Part 2: So you don’t like the updated general plan? What are you going to do about it?
In Part 1 of a series of posts about how to voice your opinion over the updated General Plan, we talked about needing to formulate a plan of your own. We mentioned that the Planning Commissioners and County Council members have a lot of experience, and you will have to have good arguments to sway them to your position.
So, how do you sway them? If you attend these type of meetings you will quickly see many things that don’t work too well. Here are a few:
- Talking about too many concepts. Remember, you only have 3 minutes and that goes fast.
- Just saying you don’t like something and providing no explanation.
- Saying, “I agree with the person who spoke before me and then sitting down” (we suppose this does lend “numbers” to the position but there is usually something better to say).
- Repeating what 3 other people (or even 1 other person) said like you haven’t been listening.
- Acting like everyone but you is an idiot.
- Spewing wild accusations like “there has to be someone taking money under the table!”
- Yelling at the Commission or Council.
- Getting up and speaking again (there are perhaps a few good reasons for this but generally you hurt your arguments).
- Taking much more than your allotted time.
Lest you think I am one of those “holier than thou” sorts, I usually violate at least two of these each time I speak to the County Council. Improving this is a New Years resolution that I’ll probably fail at. So, I apologize in advance to anyone who has to hear me speak in 2015. Just so you have a concrete example of how things can go poorly, though, during the Basin Rec Bond final hearing regarding whether Utah law was violated and whether the measure should still be on the ballot, I violated #1 and #9. On #1, I wanted to make two points to the County Council. First, that the County shouldn’t set the precedent of violating laws and second that they had actually violated another law completely (due to timing of meetings). By the time I was done speaking (about 8 minutes… thus breaking rule #9) I had confused everyone so much that it didn’t matter. I just should have gone with my second point and spent 3 minutes on it. My bad. Lesson learned.
So, how does one make sure they have a concrete point to speak about? There are likely many strategies and countless books written on the subject. What you will notice is you’ll see many of the County Council members making lists of the issues that people bring up . So, that’s a good starting place. If you make a list of your various arguments on a pad of paper, it serves multiple purposes.
- If someone already speaks about an issue on your list, you can cross it off. There is no reason to bring it up again unless they didn’t make your point. If that’s the case, jot down what needs to be clarified so you can bring that up when you are speaking.
- It keeps you organized. If you have 5 potential arguments you can bring up, you can bullet point a few notes on the argument below it. That helps when you lose your train of thought at the podium.
- You’ll speak more clearly because you’ll have thought about what you want to say ahead of time. This limits meandering and wandering.
So, that’s the approach we are going to take in the New Year. You should do whatever works for you but being concise and on-point will serve both you and your argument(s) very well.
In our final post (Part 3) regarding how to approach the updated General Plan, we will talk about an issue near and dear to our hearts and how we are going to personally approach it.
in Development
So you don’t like the updated general plan? What are you going to do about it?
Last week, over 150 concerned citizens attended a open house on changes to the Snyderville Basin General Plan. The General Plan is important because it guides development in our area for the next 25 years. There are some changes that will appear large to some neighborhoods. The next step in the process is a public hearing with the Snyderville Basin Planning Commission on January 13th (at 6PM in the Kimball Junction Library). A draft of the plan will then be sent to the County Council. There will be more Public Hearings and then the County Council will vote on it.
Let’s say you attended that meeting or have read the proposed plan, and don’t like some parts of it. What’s your strategy to illicit change? “What, you say? I need a strategy?” Yes, please have a strategy. We have sat through many county meetings and those people without a plan do no one a service. This is how a public hearing typically works:
In the case of the Planning Commission or County Council, there may be some discussion by the commission/council members and then they’ll open it up for public comment. People will come up to the microphone and speak for “up to 3 minutes.” Then another person will speak for 3 minutes. Then an inconsiderate person will speak for about 10 minutes. Then another person will speak for 3 minutes. Rinse…Repeat. There can be 50-100 people who all want to provide their opinion. Four hours later, our representatives look like they’ve gone to war and just escaped ISIS. What they’ve heard are a few good ideas… Some people criticizing the use of a comma versus a semi-colon … A lot of , “I completely agree with what she said.”… Some personal attacks (“somebody’s got to be sleeping with someone for this to pass”). You even get the occasional person who threatens them (yes, we are not making that up). It’s a free for all.
What’s the outcome? Perhaps an idea or two is incorporated into the plan but its hard to separate the wheat from the chaff. At best, it’s really just another wasted opportunity. At worst, you’ll look back and wonder why you even bothered (and won’t in the future). So what do we recommend? Before we answer that, we think you should first understand your audience.
Generally, whenever you are speaking to one of the above groups about something like the general plan, you need to recognize that it’s extremely likely they have spent countless more hours on the subject than you have. We can count on one hand general citizens that are better informed about these topics than members of the council or commission. If you don’t know if your are one of those people (we know we aren’t), you probably aren’t. Not sure how many pieces of land have development rights already in the Basin? I’m sure there is someone on the Planning Commission that does. Do you know what “1 per 20 means”, in relation to development in the Basin? Why would you? You know accounting, or real-estate, or insurance. That said, these guys do.
So, what do you do? Not show up? Not comment? No. You just need to be smart about it. Speak from your personal experience. Bring up things that they may not have heard of. There will be enough people just saying, “I hate affordable housing.” You can be the one who provides better information. What and how do you do that? We aren’t experts for sure… but we’ll do our best with that in Part 2.
Parkrag
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