In a pleasant article today in the Press, reporter Tom Hasslinger writes of a zone change that will be requested at tonight’s CdA city council meeting. He doesn’t refer to any of the controversy related to this land, the zone changes or the funding process. What a shame. The public should be aware of how this fiasco has been shoved down their throats, but the Press is keeping it nice and pretty. Here’s the comment I put under their article online…what are your thoughts?
“Several years ago, I attended a meeting about the Ed Corridor. It was at SD271’s Midtown Center and the little meeting room was packed with people. A fancy, full color booklet, which was called the plan for the Ed Corridor had just been made public. So, during the meeting, I asked NIC Pres. Priscilla Bell, how much of the 17 acres (at $588,000 per acre) would be used for commercial purposes. She answered, “None”. Then I asked why the “plan” showed almost 7 acres (40%) as designated for commercial development? She balked, stuttered, started to deny it, but I held up the booklet and read directly from the page that detailed that use. NIC’s Treasurer was sitting next to Priscilla and told her I was correct.
Please remember that the existing NIC campus was zoned R-17, a much more protected zone, but it still allowed any uses the college needed…the automotive repair program, the commercial restaurant program that serves meals for money, bookstore, cafe, etc. These things were all owned by the college, and were for educational purposes, so they were allowed.
Please also remember that the outrageous $10 million dollar price tag, during a huge downturn in the real estate market, was supposedly a “good deal”, even though the bogus appraisal didn’t factor in the location next to the sewage plant and also assumed a C-17 zoning for the entire property, which was not in place at the time.
Why C-17 now? I think Jill Heine is on the right track with her recent comment below. There are all kinds of stories going around, but they all include the power players using the land we taxpayers bought to further their private profits. And don’t forget, there’s no property tax on government land and these private businesses will compete, unfairly, with regular businesses.
Done deal? Probably, but hopefully some of this info can come to light at tonight’s city council meeting. The public needs to understand how this process happened. It was NOT an open, accountable, responsible process. The end result will be pretty but your rights, and your money, have been abused. The end does not justify the means.”
I have witnessed many a college vision go from dirt lot to a proud and accomplished campus. There’s no question that this opportunity has some real potential. But no planning stage I have ever seen included cut outs for so much business. In fact businesses were kept a distance away from the campuses so they would not present distractions or taint the austere character of higher education. They were campuses built with public tax dollars, dedicated to education and for the publics use. The term ‘corridor’ has always sounded a bit shriveled, more like a hallway or an alley. Too bad, really.
Comment by Wallypog — February 7, 2012 @ 4:26 pm