"Why did they want to tear down that beautiful building?" a lovely woman asked me at the bank last week, one of our stalwart members of Lindsay, speaking of the Citrus Exchange building we'd just saved. I hadn't been totally sure of the answer until Tuesday night's council meeting. "They wanted a parking lot, new curbs and gutters, and a bulbout," I told her, still in disbelief.
The agenda for the council meeting was more placid than usual. Councilwoman Kimball was absent on a trip to Washington DC with TCAG, so no controversial items were considered. The withdrawal of the Dollar General proposal was tucked into the consent calendar along with the minutes of the last meeting, the request by El Quinto Sol to use Sweet Brier Plaza April 27th for their Dia del Nino event, and the mayor's proclamation opening Orange Blossom Week.
I had questioned my attorney why the council would need to approve Dollar General's withdrawal; on the surface it seemed a moot point. He thought it had something to do with limiting the time period in which that proposal could come back to the council without re-doing the environmental documents. So I let the question drop and prepared to simply witness the formality with dignity and gratitude.
Surprisingly, Danny Salinas asked to have that item removed from the consent calendar, wanting more discussion. "I'd like to get a little more insight on what happened. Bill?"
Ready, Zigler replied "The developer pulled the project because the developer was concerned about litigation. The scope of the project was such that they couldn't afford to litigate." My mind did a back-flip. If it had gone to court, it would have been the City of Lindsay trying to defend Zigler's environmental documents, not Dollar General. If we had proven their inadequacy, which we were prepared to do, it would have been the City of Lindsay who paid, because Zigler had not included any indemnification clauses in the conditions on the project. We were grateful to not have to put that burden on the taxpayers, ourselves, for a staff still out of control.
Zigler continued: "As a result of that, if the City of Lindsay wants a pedestrian-friendly bulbed intersection, the citizens will have to pay for it." Another backflip: when did we ever ask for a bulbout anywhere? "If the City wants an additional parking lot, the citizens will have to pay." The list went on. "If the City wants street improvements on North Mirage, the citizens will pay for that. If the City wants improved curbs, gutters and landscaping on Hermosa, the citizens will pay for that."
I was stunned. We have not been begging for any of those things. The only things we have been begging for are to have our streets fixed and our city government re-opened so it is responsive to its citizens, and so far our desires have been unmet.
Zigler noted that the developer was going to pay for all these things, as well as architectural features masking the metal building's true structure, then concluded "So that's the result of this project being withdrawn. I'd be happy to answer any questions."
The only question Bill Zigler will not be happy to answer is "Who says we need these projects?" It's not the citizens, so who is it?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trudy Wischemann is an ex-patriot planner who loves small towns for their authenticity. You can send her your ideas about who wants these projects % P.O. Box 1374, Lindsay CA 93247 or leave a comment below!
No comments:
Post a Comment