Of course, I am talking about city councilor Greg Neizert who helped as a citizen create Shape Places, fought for it in a ballot initiative to prevent revoking it, helped tweak it when it came to billboards and has served on the planning board of adjustment. But hey? What does he know? He actually gave a real simple piece of advice to his fellow councilors before him and Stehly were the only two to vote against a deferral instead of a reprimand back to the planning commission. Greg said, “If any substantial changes to the development plan are made, it has to go back to the planning commission anyway. That’s the law.”
Doesn’t get more simpler than that, yet you heard nothing but crickets from planning staff and the city attorney. So now we have to depend on part-time city councilors to bring us back to reality?
The rest of the council who voted for deferral seem to be delusional if they think the developer is going to make the changes the neighborhood wants them to ON THEIR OWN. Won’t happen. And now the council just threw the flaming football to September without a real solution except a blind hope the neighborhood residents and the developer will gather around a campfire and sing hymnals together to hammer it out.
I have been saying for weeks this is deja vu of the SON neighborhood and Southside Walmart. That case is now pending in SD Supreme Court because of an inept council and planning department. The Oakview neighborhood better lawyer up, and they better do it soon.