EDITORIAL: A COUPLE MEMBERS OF THE ZONING APPEALS BOARD NEEDS TO BE MORE CONSIDERATE

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A COUPLE MEMBERS OF THE ZONING APPEALS BOARD NEEDS TO BE MORE CONSIDERATE

Last week we sat in a Board of Zoning Appeals meeting for well over 2 1/2  hours and listened to a lively discussion of the merits of approving an amended parking plan for a proposed upscale Restaurant-Bar on West Franklin Street. This project is being developed by highly regarded Evansville businessman Kerry Chesser.

We were perplexed when the board voted 4 to 3 to reject Mr. Chesser’s request to open a new Restaurant-Bar on West Franklin Street even after he made major concessions in his parking plans.

Speaking in favor of this project were Amy Rivers-Word President of the Franklin Street Events Association and Kenny Newcomb of F. C. Tucker Commercial President. We were astonished by the way board members Joy Payne and local attorney Jon Parkhurst talked down to Amy Rivers-Word.  We hope the next time she comes before this group the Board Chairman will demand that Parkhurst and Payne allow Amy Rivers-Word to make her point without interruptions. Bottom line, there is no reason for anyone serving on any public board be allowed to openly be disrespectful to any citizen that wants to speak on any item posted on the board agenda.

We would like to point out that Mr. Chessers attorney Chris Wischer did a masterful job in presenting his client petition for a Restaurant -Bar on West Franklin Street.  Mr. Wischer stayed on point and didn’t make any demeaning comments towards members of the Board or Pistons attorney Maria Bulkley.

We urge Mr. Chesser to continue the fight to convince the Zoning Board of Appeals to vote in favor of his most worthy Restaurant-Bar project on West Franklin Street.  It’s our strong opinion when the Board approves Mr. Chessers request for a Westside Restaurant-Bar it will prove to a major asset to that area!

 

 

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14 COMMENTS

  1. This paper was written in 1990, well before the election process we just went through, and could be said to act as a playbook for certain unscrupulous people who participated, and are still participating, in the election and its aftermath.

    THE PRACTICE OF RITUAL DEFAMATION: How values, opinions and beliefs are controlled in democratic societies.
    Laird Wilcox (1990)

    http://www.lairdwilcox.com/news/defame.html

    • There is an incorrect statement in that article. Monroe County outside of Bloomington is very conservative and fights vigorously to exclude themselves from the IU debauchery inside Bloomington’s city limits. The rest of the article is correct.

    • What are the new Bloomington holiday names? “Comrade Day” and “Rainbow Fairy Dust Day”?

  7. This Zoning Board decision seems to be much ado about nothing.

    When Franklin St. was (relatively) dead, it would be no surprise that a Zoning Board would bend a little bit to get something started, give the developer a break on parking because no one else was using the parking ! Then as the Franklin St. corridor gets *hot*, lots of new business and traffic, no surprise that a Zoning Board would pull in its horns and hold the later developers to the letter of the law.

    It is hypocritical (see Downtown Arena parking plan, 6,000 spots within 10 minute walk !), and I’m sure the later developers want the same deal that the early developers had, but the decision seems like it will help keep traffic from getting to be complete gridlock before the Yogi Berra truism kicks in (“nobody goes there any more . . .it’s too crowded”).

  8. Let’s see. Is Joy Payne a realtor (small capital r intended)? Is the Mayor of Evansville’s wife a realtor? Does the Mayor of Evansville want anything other than Main Street in Evansville to succeed? Hmmm? Connect the dots.

  9. How can a Posey County deputy prosecutor be on the Vanderburgh County Zoning Appeals Board?

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