City Council Minutes 1986 10 07 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

wishing to speak to limit their remarks to this growth related issue only at this time. Citizen Comments: Margaret Hornbostle, 655 W. Hawthorne, encouraged Council to adopt this measure as a lot of work went into it by a large group of people and is something everyone could live with. Some people speaking against the measure stated concerns regarding developers -- residential, commercial, golf course, etc. -- who may choose not to look at Louisville due to all the disruption going on at the present time. Another comment was that the free market should express itself without the restrictiveness of more laws. A comment from the business community was that if growth stops, Louisville will become stagnant and die. Properties near U.S. 36 should be used for commercial business to supply jobs for the community and allow economic growth. Several speakers asked that Council allow this issue to go to the vote of the people to allow everyone the opportunity to express themselves. Chamber President Joe Howard, stated that the initiative and referendum were not in Louisville's best interest and could in fact be damaging to the economic well-being of the community. Howard stated that Judson had been invited to a public forum, but turned down the offer. Others suggested that this will present a negative no-growth signal and the community will no longer be able to thrive. Some suggested that this measure would cut economic growth and would create problems for which there are no apparent answers. Another opinion was that a tremendous amount of time and effort has been put in by staffs, councils, commissions and resi- dents to solve problems referenced in the initiative and that it is a progressive and positive force, and to establish a law to deal with such issues is unnecessary. There was a question as to whether terms within the initiative might be illegal as contracts have been made over a period of time with developers that would have to be honored irregardless of what kind of building permit restrictions came after the fact. One resident stated that this was a "backdoor" approach to solving problems referring to the school issue. It was his contention that the school district is willing to listen to concerns and is able to solve problems without this initiative. Homart Representative, Dave Stahl, referenced the land Homart owns within the 1500' buffer outlined in the initiative. Stahl believes any service expansion fee would be hard pressed to purchase the land, however, it is available. The City has been negotiating a school site on land that is currently owned by Homart, and Stahl worried that this initiative might have an impact on those negotiations. Stahl encouraged Council to allow this issue to go to a vote of the people. Jeff Lipton, 489 Catalpa Ct., was concerned that the initiative would relegate the responsibility of making land use choices from the elected Council of the City of Louisville and its appointed officials and staff to the Board of Education. A second concern was that the land surrounding the U.S. 36 interchange will be developed and is only a matter of by whom and 7