Q-Tip Smith is right, development by the new Events Center is starting

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Of course, with the help of more tax subsidies;

City officials announced that Fairway Suites will develop a hotel on the southeast side of Elmwood Golf Course.

The City and Fairway Suites will begin negotiations on a lease agreement for the proposed site. A final agreement would then need to be approved before a project could proceed.

“We are very pleased to be working with the City of Sioux Falls to develop a hotel on the Elmwood site,” says Brian Burton, Chief Operating Officer for Fairway Suites, LLC. “With the opening of the new Denny Sanford PREMIER Center and efforts focused on the redevelopment of the surrounding area, we feel that the long-term outlook for the location is very promising.”

While I am not opposed to leasing the land to the hotel, the city in no way shape or form be involved with subsidizing or building this facility. The city should not be in the business of providing lodging. We have already given away millions (TIFs & River Greenway bulk head) to the DT Hilton. This a prime example of why hand-out Mike and his team (Smith) need to go.

RE-zoning hearing at the Lincoln County Commission meeting 3/25

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From a South DaCola foot soldier;
This hearing could have a significant impact on future Lincoln County development policy.  A parcel that is 250 feet from city limits of Lennox,and just a few hundred feet from city utilities may be allowed to be developed as “Rural Residential”. As an un-annexed housing development, this would mean a huge loss of potential sales/excise and property tax revenues for the city of Lennox. The Lennox city attorney is on the record as feeling it would be detrimental to the city. The city engineer has stated his opposition to this approach  to this style of development.
And yet Lennox Mayor Orville Wiebers has sent a letter of support for this to the County Commission.  At the County Planning Commission on Monday night, they voted to send it to the County Commission as recommended for approval. This was despite the opposition of all the surrounding land owners, half the Lennox City Council and a petition from over 50 Lennox residents. If it becomes the policy of Lincoln county to reopen the permitting of this type of development (a moratorium has been in place for over a decade) this could change the face of development for every city in the county.
Sioux Falls, Tea, Harrisburg, Canton, Beresford, Worthing.

UPDATE:Larry, Curly & Moe must think the citizens are really that stupid

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Just watched the informational, apparently Karsky is the one to bring this back up, he wants it postponed until after the election for a work session, which makes sense, BUT here is the kicker, he is bringing two amendments forward tonight, 1) to postpone until after the election OR 2) to vote on it again tonight. So there is still a possibility this will get killed tonight. Hold tight.

nyukkkkk

It seems Jim, Michelle and Mike really want to get the TIF disclosure amendment in the application process dropped, and before the election. Someone (I am assuming one of them) got it put back on the agenda for Tuesday night. They not only want the spousal disclosure removed, they want to bury this TIF change before the election.

3stoogessss

Last Tuesday, the council voted 5-3 to postpone the change until April 1st (a week before the election). I have a feeling there was a discussion after the vote with the two swing voters (Dean & Sue) to try to get them to change their votes for this Tuesday.

It begs the question, “What is Michelle, Mike and Jim trying to hide?” This is all about transparency and ethical practices when it come to elected officials. It is no secret that Huether and his wife are investing in properties throughout our city. But why are Michelle and Jim so concerned about this?

Remember, Jim has property adjacent to the new Events Center and Michelle’s donor list reads like the ‘Who’s Who’ of SF developers. Either these three are trying to protect someone’s investment or their own.

There is a deeper story here.

Is it even legal to mention Walmart on the ballot for Referred Law 4?

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Someone pointed this out to me today, that Walmart is being mentioned on the ballot language for Referred Law 4. Not sure if this will get on the ballot this way (because the city attorney and city clerk are not allowing anyone from the public to view the ballots before they are printed). You have to remember, this is a zoning issue NOT a Walmart issue. In fact, as far as I know, Walmart doesn’t even own the property yet, the Homan family does (Springdale development). And even if it gets rezoned by the vote of the people, it doesn’t mean a Walmart has to be built there. Kinda reminds me of providing the public with indoor pool drawings when an indoor pool isn’t even on the ballot.

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The Chamber seems to have it backwards when it comes to Shape Places

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So the Chamber admits that some things with Shape Places needs to be fixed;

While the chamber supports Shape Places, board members agree with Save Our Neighborhood on one point. They recommend the city review the ordinance to address concerns about how the new rules would change the opportunities for the public to give input on a project.
Palmer said the best way to ensure that happens is to revisit the ordinance.
“Voting No on Shape Places in April will give the city and interested parties the opportunity to work together to make the necessary changes before it goes into effect,” Palmer said.

Palmer is right, if it passes in it’s current state, there are NO guarantees the new city council and mayor will ‘fix’ those problem areas. There is one way though the public can make sure they do, and that is by voting NO. This will force the city to re-visit the ordinance, and fix those problem areas before passing new zoning rules. Like I said in the past, it is a good piece of legislation for the most part, but there are some areas that need to be tweaked before implementing it.