PC tomorrow, VC Last week

2 Short posts, one (over last week's VC meeting) seriously delayed because I didn't realize that it didn't post--sorry!

Dear People: This will be just a short email, since it's late and I still have quite a bit of work to do tonight! (And, seriously, I've worked all day, but have just fallen behind.) Planning Commission tomorrow night, 7 pm, Bryan Center.

After our regular reports, we'll be discussing the possibility of historical preservation legislation. I was glad to read in this week's YS News that Antioch College had a preservationist look at the buildings, and that the recommendation was to raze probably only two buildings, rather than the much larger number that was feared. This is exactly the approach we'd like to see property owners take whenever possible--that they'd focus on trying to save older, and/or significant buildings, if possible, rather than tearing them down. Just as we don't pay the true cost of grocery store food, we don't pay the true cost of building supplies, when you attend to the full costs of all the oil/other energy used and pollution created to make or harvest the raw materials, process them, and transport them to us. Renovation is, in many ways, the greenest way to build. So what I'm hoping is that we'll be able to educate the citizenry, and strongly encourage them to seek to preserve buildings from our past if it is at all feasible, through helpful legislation.

Second, we'll be discussing our PUD subdivision regulations, from chapter 1264 of our Charter. Woolpert's have analysed our current regulations and they find our procedure to be "a conventional two step PUD process." However, they note that there are two phases in our first step--both a concept plan and a detailed design plan phase are required. They say that "this two phase process is not necessary, and probably adds time to the process," and confusese the process unnecessarily. Second, they note that it's not normal for Planning Commission to have to return the final, approved plan back to Council. They made about 10 more recommendations, including several suggestions for strengthening open space requirements.

LAST WEEK in VILLAGE COUNCIL:

Dear People: I am sorry my note this week has to be short. I was out of town at a conference, until late last night, and have been scrambling to catch up on grading.

In brief, we're discussing resolutions to support beggar's night bonfires, and authorizing the RFP for energy efficient street lights.

Then we'll have special reports about the Youth Bench (from Tucker Malishenko) and the Mental Health levy renewal.

Next, for old business, we'll turn to the Levy Update from our special meeting last Monday, and the MVRPC plan I mentioned a few notes ago (we now have a hard copy of the executive summary of the plan). Then Greene Metropolitan Housing Authority has requested a tax exemption on some of their Title 8 housing.

Finally, we'll be discussing Kathryn's service on Community Resources, and the possibility of a joint meeting. Possibly this will include a discussion of the Economic Sustainability Committee that Judith has proposed, but I am not sure of that.

Thanks! Peace out!