A Community Meeting Heads-up

Two important dates for Emerald City political wonks

There are a couple of community/governmental events coming up this week, which ought to be of special interest our gentle readers; so we thought it would be useful to provide reminders here:

First, our Emerald City Planning Commission will be again this week considering the Mixed Use Ordinance which has been on the table since earlier this year. In that connection, we have uploaded the latest revision, which can be viewed in PDF format here. We also provide a link to the latest Planning Commission Report, which provides background regarding the latest proposed MU ordinance language. We invite interested readers to carefully examine these two documents, and plan to attend the Wednesday March 7, 2005 Planning Commission meeting, which will be held at 5:00 p.m. in the Emerald City Council Chambers.

We got word earlier in the week that Boss Godfrey and his developer wanna-be croney Chris Peterson were spotted touring the Mt. Ogden Golf course Thursday last, with a "very famous" (but un-named) golf course designer in tow. There's certainly no predicting what The Boss of US All will "pull" next. In the wake of the Bootjack stealth transaction of last December, we lumpencitizens need to remain on our toes. We sincerely hope the council chambers will be packed on Wednesday night with concerned citizens, (trusty pitchforks and torches in hand,) to provide a gentle reminder to the Planning Commission that the vast majority of citizens in our community won't be happy with a gated community in the middle what was once our beautiful open space.

We'd also like to provide our readers a reminder of the public event calendared for the following evening, Thursday March 8, 2007 from 5-8 p.m., wherein The Emerald City Council will host a Transportation Horizons work session in the Council Chambers.

The council has initiated this work session, independent of the administration, to inform both themselves and Emerald City residents of transportation needs and opportunities. The Council is encouraging a strong public attendance. Residents attending the meeting will have the opportunity to speak with presenters and Council members before and after the work session. The work session will feature knowledgeable presenters from several organizations.

A Weber County Forum Tip o' the Hat to our Emerald City Council, for initiating this investigation into transportation alternatives. Many of us believe Boss Godfrey has dropped the ball in the public transportation arena, and it's great to see the council taking the initiative. For more information, check out the council's most recent press release. We hope everyone will plan to attend.

Our readers' intricate and always-intelligent analysis is invited. We'd especially like to hear from those folks who may have already run through the latest Mixed Use Ordinance language with their trusty fine-toothed combs. Please let us in on what you think about this latest revision.

The floor is open.

Update 2/5/07 9:55 a.m. MT: One of our gentle readers has forwarded to us a letter sent by the Smart Growth Ogden organization to its local membership. Although the letter somewhat overlaps the general information we have already provided above, we nevertheless take the liberty of publishing it here, inasmuch as it provides an additional helpful overview and analysis of the proposed Mixed Use Ordinance which will be the main subject of Wednesday night's Planning Commission agenda.