PonderInc
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« on: September 02, 2008, 12:13:49 pm » |
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While I'm excited about the possibilities for PLANiTULSA, I have a question.
What happens if citizens and neighbors agree on a vision for a particular area (through the PLANiTULSA process), but a PUD already exists that's totally out of character with what the citizens want? Do the PUD's live in perpetuity? If the voices of thousands of citizens indicate they want a different sort of development/paradigm/pattern, what happens next?
I raise this issue b/c I'm seeing lots of PUDs getting approved against the will of the neighbors (and out of character with the hood). I assume that those citizens would participate in PLANiTULSA and indicate the types of development they would like to see in their neighborhood....but then what?
(example: What if the neighborhood wants pedestrian-friendly, human-scaled development, with a traditional orientation to the street. In the meantime, a PUD gets approved that for the typical suburban style commercial development with enormous setbacks and surface parking.)
Right now, everyone ignores the existing comp plan b/c it's so outdated, it's considered a joke. So citizens who say: "I bought my house expecting x,y,z as shown in the comp plan" get laughed at.
But developers use the existing zoning code selectively to get what they want ("We had to make the parking lot that size b/c that's what the zoning requires.") But when the existing rules don't allow them to get what they want, they get a PUD. And THEN, they get what they want. Without concern for the neighborhood.
What effect, if any, will PLANiTULSA have on this situation?
At what point should the TMAPC begin realizing: "we need to respect the will of the citizens/neighbors b/c they will be the authors of the comp plan."
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