Are Venice’s new LDR’s something that will slow the over development of our city or is it just another developer friendly tool in their tool box?

Let me throw a hypothetical out to the public.

Imagine if the council would have had several public workshops throughout the LDR process as they did during the last LDR revisions, versus two at the very end, when council members had already made their minds up or the planning commissions that are during working hours.

What if during the many public workshops, the residents came forward stating that instead of a baseline of 35 ft that developers were pushing the city maintain, they wanted a baseline of 28 ft. Instead of no limit for roofing or chimney space, they were fine with the 7 ft cap or perhaps less. Then the building height cap would have been 35 ft versus the council approved 42ft, based upon the attached photo.

The council will never know because the perception is that they took the approach that would stifle public input. Perhaps that is why many residents are wondering if a council that many of its members placing their elections signs on the properties owned by developers and/or accepted donations by developers and their supporters, showed a bias towards the developers.

Perhaps sticking with the current LDR and capping the chimney heights is not a move that curbs development. Most of the approvals when it was up to the council did not exceed 7ft. It gives the perception that this move will curb over development, but does it?

Now the city has agreed to hire an attorney to see if they can stop the residents petition and a few attacks on any resident that would dare to question their vote or the process, during the 8.23 council meeting. Stating that they are costing the city money. But I must wonder if the city councils own missteps are what led us down this road and is now costing the city money. Bottom line is that the council’s approach works well for Pat Neal and other developers, not the residents of Venice.
 
Thoughts?