An out of town developer, just let our community know that he wants to build about 60
townhouses and a building(s) containing about 100 one and two bedroom apartments
on a 36 acre site about 100 feet from a major roadway. Every time, this guy opens his
mouth the story changes....and what little has been presented in writing has been very
contradictory.

What are the steps necessary...and how can the community carefully monitor the
progress of his getting approval. I hate to say this, but a lot of political games can
be played in this county and hidden from public scrutiny... so what should we be
watching out for.

No paperwork has been filed with the Dept of Planning and Development....

The site does not support the suggested development and the builder has said that
zoning variances will be required to change the current setbacks. How much notice
will the community have to protest these setback applications ??

Should plans and drawings describing the proposed buildings be filed with someone.

How do we find out who owns the property and if this person has purchased it or not.

One of the effects will be a traffic problem as the two main roads are already backed up
during rush hour traffic, and there are a lot of accidents. Now the developer has
already said he will commission a traffic study to be performed... but how do we know if
the study is honest and covers everything or just slanted to support the developers
position.

Same for noise... within 100 feet of a major highway...and 200 feet of a high speed
8 lane highway..... how does one verify what the noise levels will be ??

Thanking you in advance for your comments and suggestions

Peter

most of this falls with the city and/or county planning boards.

the property ownership iss a matter of public record and should be
available from the city clerk or whoever issues property tax
statements.

The rules for public comment / objections etc should be available from
the city clerk.

If a citizens group is formed you could hire an attorney who
specializes in / or at least has a knowledge of the planning and
approvals process.

The first step would be campaign contributions.

"They" could care less what you or I want if we have not made campaign
contributions. For example write your federal elected representatives and
ask them to require changes so we do not need to rely on oil as much in the
future. See how far you get. (Note that most people want this.)

If you want to know how things work in this country, read the following
books...
"Boss" by Mike Royko (About mayor Daley of Chicago.)
"Man of the House" by Tip O'Neill

Get out of print books here...
http://used.addall.com