Not what I want to talk about
So, there are tons of things I’d like to write about tonight – Aiden’s ball game tonight, finally posting pictures of our fully decorated Christmas tree, the great pine smell that fills the room because of the tree, our new cable TV (yes, they came today) or the fact that tomorrow is the last day of classes for the semester.
Alas, those are for posts in the near future. I’ve been holding off discussing this, but it’s becoming quite ridiculous now…
Johnson City leaders say they want the city to grow. They want to see commercial development continue to expand. They want to see a revitalization of downtown.
Oh really?
Their actions over the past few months say otherwise. Let me explain two key issues that have created a lot of debate within the commission:
1) The zoning of the “Beech Tree” properties. This is the most valuable piece of property in Johnson City, according to many experts. A man purchased the property with the intention of building condominiums and it was zoned as such. This became a problem when these 100 year old trees were scheduled to be removed in order for the new development to be built.
The natives became restless.
The property owner attempted to compromise by making the property a commercial, rather than a residential development. Not good enough, said the commission. They wanted to see the trees remain, but they didn’t see the value of another commercial development at that property. There was, after all, another pharmacy within driving distance of the one he proposed.
The trees were cut down the next day.
The commission complained about that, too. Maybe they wanted him to build a nature preserve – I really don’t know. It doesn’t really look good to outside developers if the an owner tries to be cooperative and the city refuses to give him anything he wants. Not very encouraging of future growth.
2) Then there’s the downtown issue. Now that the Sophisticated Otter and King’s Coffeehouse have closed their doors for good, there is only one successful business currently operating within the confines of downtown Johnson City – the Acoustic Coffeehouse (the site might have some offensive content if you dig too deep into it…it is a bunch of artists, after all. The mural is really cool!). Every night, the place is packed. They recently purchased the adjacent building and are hoping to expand into that facility. Once they increase their capacity limit, they will run into another problem…
parking!
They will have too few parking spaces for the legal capacity. If they do not expand, they will lose money and eventually have to shut down. No problem – the Acoustic requested a rezoning of the area, allowing for parking on the street. Neighbors have voiced opposition to this because they are worried this will mean people will park on their streets, too. The neighborhood, however, is not on Walnut Street. Why not just rezone Walnut Street to allow parking?
Then the opponents say they’re scared there will be “Loud rock music at 2 a.m.” every night. There’s an easy answer to that – it’s called a noise ordinance.
It’s obvious that a minority of people don’t really want to see downtown grow to reach the potential many people believe it has. It seems that they have the ear of the City. The commission was supposed to read the third (and final) reading of the rezoning request tonight, but they decided to postpone the reading. So, the Acoustic’s hands are tied again.
I have a great idea – let’s talk about how much we want to see the city grow economically. Then, when we see some potential success, let’s squash it by making mountains out of mole hills, or tying the owners’ hands behind their backs. That’s a great way to build an economy!
Either our city is run by incompetent dolts, or there is a gross abuse of power going on. Either way, it doesn’t make the city very attractive to potential suitors.
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