City Council Minutes 2021 12 21 - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Council Meeting Minutes December 21, 2021 Page 5 of 12 Richard Morgan, 644 West Pine Street, stated this is a land parcel that touches all residents and sending this to the voters is exactly what the referendum petitioners asked for. This is an emotional topic that will bring out many community members and a vote will not be time wasted. Stephanie Rowe, 631 West Street, stated repealing the ordinance by Council is as democratic a process as a vote of the residents. She stated there should be a campaign finance limit on the election for both sides. Sherry Sommer, stated the original approval was only by one vote and she feels some councilmembers opinions were ignored. She stated if it goes to a vote the residents will turn down the proposal. Susan Morris, stated an election will be an unnecessary expense. She would prefer starting over on a new proposal for the parcel that the residents and Council could work on together. Cindy Bedell, 662 West Willow Street, stated the public will vote to repeal the ordinance. The Council received hundreds of comments in opposition to this application. She urged the Council to repeal the application rather than spend funds on a special election. Mark Cathcart, 1763 Sweet Clover Lane, stated residents won't campaign in favor of this application and it will be repealed. He said there is no good option right now and he urged the Council to vote to repeal. Matt Jones, 265 Dahlia Drive, urged Council to repeal the ordinance. The referendum process allows the Council to repeal a bad decision rather than move something to the vote that would be divisive. Cathern Smith, 608 West Street, stated she sees divisiveness already and she urged a the Council to repeal the ordinance. The motivated members of the community are the ones supporting the repeal and they are also the ones that will vote on this. The community has shown they do not support this application. She supports spending limits on the election. Councilmember Brown stated he supports campaign finance reform and spending limits, but it is not likely we can do that in this case. He noted his concern the developers can spend large sums of money on this election. Councilmember Dickinson stated he supports sending it to the voters because the referendum process was initiated to do just that, to ask the voters of Louisville to decide. It is true it will cost money, but this in an important issue and allowing our residents to vote on something is not a waste of money. It may be divisive, but he stated he hopes everyone has the best interests of the City in mind. He asked people to continue to have a respectful conversation on this issue.