Fight underway to save Jacksonville from itself

[JeffreyS]

I wonder who got to Bishop and with what. Whatever it is I hope he enjoys it.

[thelakelander]

He is saying the project list is outdated. 

He says purpose of new ordinance is to provide flexibility

From a technical standpoint, was it explained how an entire 2030 project list is out of date in 2014?

I wonder if they are being presented as out of date because someone has lobbied for their own personal project, which just happens to not be on the list?

Bishop believes that the developers will do wonderful things for Jacksonville

"Let's think outside the box" says bishop

We must live in two different Jacksonvilles. We've been spreading our legs wide eagle to the development community for 50 years now and the entire urban core has literally died as a result. No many of our first ring suburbs are falling apart as well.













Has it been explained how this propose qualifies as "thinking outside of the box?" Because what's been proposed can be called many things, but innovative and thinking out of the box would not qualify as accurate characteristics.

[tufsu1]

well the list is out of date in that the 2030 Mobility Plan nor the 2035 North Florida TPO LRTP included major development on the Davis ranch....of course that's because the family hadn't shown much of an interest in developing it before.

[spuwho]

If the only demerit to the plan is "lack of flexibility" especially after only a few years have transpired, then it isn't the plan, it is someones perception of it.

Short sighted politicos stealing from the strategic to feed the tactical. That may work for re-election, but it doesn't work well for your community.

COJ needs to just get over themselves, set up a UPL and spend their collective energies restoring what we already have instead of trying to reinvent utopia 30 miles away.  Start appealing to developers who have urban and TOD development experience.

What is wrong with this place? Why doesn't anyone want to stick with a plan?

[brainstormer]

The fact that we even have to go to the developers to get their approval exemplifies the root of the problem.  This city is about as poorly designed as they come.  We came up with a brilliant, award winning plan to try and fix it, and the city council sold their souls to developers before the ink had dried.  If our Mayor wasn't such a passive failure, he would be out standing up for the citizens and putting a stop to this nonsense.  I'm so over this city and how backwards it is.  It's one short-sighted decision after another; a true lack of leadership throughout.

[Bridges]

He is saying the project list is outdated. 

This statement proves one of our fears about the new revisions.  If you open Pandora's box with this ordinance, suddenly you'll be reviewing every single piece of development.  And now those new developments alternate plans will suddenly show how "outdated" the mobility plan list is. 

"Let's think outside the box" says bishop

Wow!

[thelakelander]

How do you define "thinking outside of the box"?  How do you break that down from a technical standpoint?

Would building a full blown expressway with public money through someone's property (with an overpass for a future interchange) be an example of "thinking outside of the box"?







So, this $170 million investment isn't enough?

[Jumpinjack]

What an insult, a slap in the face to the city planners who researched and the CPACs and residents who came to meetings and said what they wanted to see to fix their roads and their neighborhoods. In essence - your wants, your priorities are outdated, not innovative, not flexible.

[BoldBoyOfTheSouth]

Schellenberg wonders how people can understand the bill if the planning department doesn't understand it either

Bishop now says developers will fall to lowest common denominator.

Pretty much sums it up. 

[strider]

Is it standard and normal for a powerful lobbyist to write new legislation?  And when he does, does he do it for free?  Did us taxpayers pay him?  Do we know who did?

It does say legislation prepared by Paul Harden.  Why would anyone ever think that an ordinance having anything to do with the group that is most often Mr harden's clients does anything but help the developers in way that will ultimately hurt us?

Just once, I would like to remain proud of Jacksonville for longer than one day....

[tufsu1]

Is it standard and normal for a powerful lobbyist to write new legislation?  And when he does, does he do it for free? 

very much so....and no

Lobbyists and advocates are usually the ones to write legislation....and then they get a legislator (in this case councilman) to sponsor the bill

[tufsu1]

It is not ideal for lobbyists to be writing bills, no matter how common it might be in TUFSU's profession.

Nobody said it was ideal...or even preferred

Also was not aware that I am a registered lobbyist....or that urban planners generally are.

[strider]

So then WE can write new legislation that increases the cost of the mobility fees and redirects that extra money to eventually fund street car?  Of course, getting someone to sponsor that bill would be the trick, would it  not?  And why would a council person sponsor a bill written by a lobbyist that is being paid by the very people the bill will benefit? (Because why else would you pay to have it written unless you benefited in some profitable way?) I can list only one or two plausible reasons, none of which have anything to do with what is best for the public at large.

Just for once, I would like to see plain basic common sense applied to situations like this.  In this case we have a bill that basically guts the award winning mobility plan and was written by a lobbyist paid for the people who simply want to control the fees for their own profit.  Common sense says that this bill is not in the best interests of the public, it says it is not going to further the goals of the 2030 plan nor improve the future of Jacksonville in any way and that the only reason anyone will pay a lobbyist to write a bill like this is that they will profit by the results of the bill a lot more than it costs them. Anyone thinking this bill deserves any debate or real consideration is not using common sense, they are going with greed and ego. 

Like I said, wouldn't it be nice to be proud of Jacksonville once in a while?

[mbwright]

Paul Harden almost always gets what his client wants.  Never something that helps the city.

[sheclown]

Paul Harden almost always gets what his client wants.  Never something that helps the city.

Well, then lets save the city a bunch of time and money on its political elections and staff salaries and just go to the developers in the first place. 

That would also save us average every-day citizens the energy scraped together, after a long day's work, to sit in city council chambers night after night on the same topic.