There have been several meetings concerning the budget for the Town Christiansburg. While seeming to be a negotiation process, there remains certain issues on which the Town Council appears to be split. (Hope the Mayor has his “tie-breaker” out and ready. Are you ready for a repeat of last year’s budget woes? Read the rest of this entry »
(Video of Planning Commission FOIA and Conflict of Interest Meeting available now.) I made another FOIA request the other day and am now working on setting up what I received in a format that citizens can use. It is a database of CUPs (Conditional Use Permits) for the Town of Christiansburg. It is taking a bit of time because I am comparing it to a list of CUPs I received earlier to make sure I haven’t missed anything, and to set it up in a spreadsheet (pdf) format so that you can look at all of the CUPs in a specific area, by year, or by applicant. This was not an original idea on my part. Read the rest of this entry »
Sunshine Week began on March 13, 2011 and there are a lot of events occurring around the Country. The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is a key component in keeping Sunshine in government. For citizens, governments and the agencies subject to the FOIA, knowledge is the key. Understanding rights and responsibilities inherent with FOIA is crucial in developing a healthy approach to open government and citizen engagement. FOIA is a ‘living entity’ in that it is subject to change over time as laws are modified. Read the rest of this entry »
I didn’t believe it was possible to be more biased in information gathering that what was used for citizen input in the Christiansburg Comprehensive Planning process. In that case, rather than designing a survey specifically addressing the role and function of a Comprehensive Plan, the Town used a survey that had been presented earlier concerning Citizen Satisfaction. The Citizen Satisfaction Survey does not contain questions that should be included in a Comprehensive Plan Survey and, at the time they were collected, people did not know the data was to be used to project future goals and objectives. It was simply a device which asked people how they felt about their services and Town right at that time. Read the rest of this entry »
Well, not necessarily blanket Kudos, but some are certainly worth noting. I have been hearing from quite a few people that things that have needed to be done for years (in some cases decades) are finally being addressed. But, that’s what I’m hearing from others.
What I am seeing for myself is significant improvement on the Town’s website as to getting information out to people. Yes, you have to go there and look for some stuff. It’s like moving to a new town you have to learn the streets and how to get to where you want to go, and it will take time. But, information is there in a far greater volume than it has been in the last 12 years. Read the rest of this entry »
There is a notice on the Town’s website pertaining to a public meeting. The meeting is “an informal session during the annual VML Conference to discuss Vision 2020 goals and to review the VML agenda. The location is the Embassy Suites Hotel, 1700 Coliseum Dr., Hampton, VA. Unfortunately, this may not be the best venue for citizens who choose to participate. The Town is paying the expenses of elected officials to attend, but any citizen wanting to know what is going on will have a hefty price tag attached. There is the price for fuel to drive, taking a large chunk of times out of daily life, possibly having to stay overnight, food eaten, etc. will come out of that citizen’s pocket. Read the rest of this entry »
Sidewalks were a significant part of the discussion prior to the May 4th Town of Christiansburg elections. The results of the Planning Commissions assignment to evaluate the proposed plan comes to the forefront on Monday, August 16, at 7:00 p.m. when the public is invited to participate and present their input. Thus far, the meetings where the discussions on this item received input from those few who showed up at the Planning Commission Meetings. Most of those people were developers. A common theme developed early in the process.
Sidewalks, the absence of and the degradation of existing ones have long been topics with citizens and government. What started as a general discussion on a possible ordinance change requiring sidewalks in residential areas went through a series of transmutations that have let us with what will be presented to the public at this meeting. Although not available on the town’s website for quick and easy citizen access, I have been getting copies at each step along the way, and I am providing what I believe to be the most recent copy of the proposed amendment here. Note: this addresses Chapter 26 Subdivisions and Chapter 30 Zoning.
Within Chapter 26 Subdivisions, you will find proposed changes in bold print:
Within Chapter 30 Zoning, you will find proposed changes in bold print:
You will note that rather than a Town-wide approach to requiring sidewalks in residential areas, it has become an isolated optional application for certain Zoning designations.
From the Feb. 2, 2010 Town Council Minutes Item 3 in Discussions (http://myvaresources.com/VideoFiles2010/2010_02_02TC/2010_02_2TC4.html):
From the March 2, 2010 Town Council Minutes:http://myvaresources.com/VideoFiles2010/2010_03_02TC/2010_03_2TC2.html
March 16 Town Council Minutes Town Manager Report: (http://myvaresources.com/VideoFiles2010/2010_03_16TC/2010_03_16TC3.html)
March 23, 2010 Town Council – Planning Commission Work Session on Sidewalk Ordinance, no citizen comments allowed. Includes Power Point Presentation.) (http://myvaresources.com/VideoFiles2010/2010_03_23TCWS/2010_03_23TCWS1.html) (3 parts). This set of videos holds the most information on what citizens have said and what has been seen in the neighborhoods. Even the Mayor indicated that he had clearly seen the need for sidewalks in his own neighborhood. And, the discussion was clearly concerning ALL residential developments. It was also pointed out that this ordinance could remove the ‘case-by-case’ application and create and even ‘playing field’. Currently a total of 4 miles of sidewalks exist with the boundaries of the town of 136 miles of roadway. This 4 miles includes those ‘crumbling sections of sidewalks in older areas of Town per the Town Manager. This was also the first time that ‘citizens might like this but developers not like it’ came up in any discussions and it was brought up by the Mayor. Additional discussion on green space indicated that some Council and Commission members felt that useable green space was key to any ordinance changes. The Town Manager advised that there are differences between green space, open space, and recreation space (either passive or active), but he did not provide definitions those terms. (Definitions found in Town Code follow) The discussion indicated some confusion as to what the State Code actually allowed and it was requested that more information be provided Council.
From the Christiansburg Town Code:
That is all of the Town Council input that has occurred in the public eye, PRIOR TO THE ELECTION, on this matter and expresses the intent of Council in referring this to the Planning Commission for review.
Unfortunately, there are no minutes from the Planning Commission Meeting so the agendas will have to suffice (augmented, of course by those videos which are available):
Arguments against requiring sidewalks in all new residential developments have included:
At one point, it was mentioned that connectivity to existing sidewalks should be considered and a study to see exactly what sidewalks existed and where people are likely to go was suggested. Planning Director Wingfield noted that a document existed for this (developed YEARS ago) that already filled this purpose. (The concept of doing a current evaluation, including recent growth, died on the vine.) Very little of the discussion by the Planning Commission addresses the safety and well-being of citizens. Mostly, an audience driven discussion, the bulk of the focus was on the negative impact to developers.
This may or may not be an important issue to you. Regardless of your personal level of interest, this is certainly something that has a ‘community’ interest. Safe routes to school, the ability to be able to safely walk or ride a bike to key points within the community, saving a bit of gas money, exercising for your health (car dodging does NOT count as exercise), home values, the overall appearance of the town, impact on developers, and other issues abound. Why not take some time to look at one or more of these videos to see what is being discussed. Then come on out to the public meeting and express your views. In a community, every voice is important.
Okay, I’ve done enough dancing around the subject of the Future Land Use Map. I’ve been nice, waiting to see what would be said or done. In the meantime, I’ve been reviewing, reviewing, and reviewing just to verify what I had found. Read the rest of this entry »
While the EPA does not hold control over the uses of mirrors, the billowing clouds of smoke coming from the vicinity of the Christiansburg Town Hall should be setting off alarms all over the place. Read the rest of this entry »
Now that is a $1,000,000 plus question. (By the way, videos of the meeting are at: http://myvaresources.com/VideoFiles2010/2010_07_12PC/2010_07_12PC1.html
Here are a few observations/questions about why this and many other development issues have come up. Read the rest of this entry »
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