The reason, I have been told by a number of city officials, why the city wants to lessen its landscape standards is because of developers’ complaints. "Adhering to these requirements is just too damn expensive," the developers whine and, as a result, the city is besieged by requests for variances from the regulations by developers. So, the argument goes, if we reduce the requirements, we reduce the number of complaints.
In a city where the officials bend over and grabs their knees whenever a developer asks them to, one could argue making life easier for those who actually dictate municipal policy — these developers — makes perfectly good sense. Personally, I think it stinks. Who should the city be beholden to — those who actually live and work here or those that develop the joint and then move on to screw up the next town? I argue it should be the former, but I seem I am in the minority here.
My point is simply this: The developer rarely, if ever, inhabits the project being developed. I will argue landscaping ordinances should be designed to satisfy those who will actually occupy the property in question, not to make it cheaper for that property to be developed. But our elected public officials simply don’t agree with this notion; in fact, they believe the exact opposite is true.
As mentioned in my profile, I used to be a partner in a media/crisis consulting firm. It was a comparatively small company, never employing more than seven persons at any one time. Our building needs were somewhat unique, but not overwhelming: we needed individual offices for each of the employees, a reception area, a conference/teaching room that could comfortably accommodate up to 15 persons and a room that could be used as a television studio. We were never going to construct our own building to satisfy those needs; we always looked for spaces we could alter somewhat to fit our specifications in existing office buildings.
At the same time we wanted to be located in a facility that presented the best possible face. Our clients included the heads of major corporations, owners of professional sports teams, and political leaders (including one client who subsequently became President of the United States). When you host individuals of this stature you want them on a campus that looks nice. Not only that, but we always wanted to come to work each day in a facility we could be proud to say we worked in.
But, as I said, it’s Kyle’s operating philosophy that the wants and needs of those who will live and work in a structure are not as important as those developing that structure and, hence, the need to scale back on the city’s landscape ordinance.
Having said this, however, I must tip my hat to Community Development Director Howard Koontz who has stepped into this fray since the last proposed revision of the ordinance and who did try to add some teeth to it during last night’s Planning and Zoning Commission workshop. For example, the commissioners created a landscaping requirement table that reduced the amount of landscaping required particularly in commercial developments. Koontz simply wanted to substitute that table with language that said all areas of the development not being used for the actual building footprint should be landscaped. But the commissioners were too dang proud of that table to give it up.
Koontz did manage to get language inserted that requires landscaping plans be submitted with the original development request and that those plans must be prepared by a licensed landscaping professional such as a registered landscape architect, a certified arborist,.or a registered forester. He also convinced the commissioners to change a requirement that all protected trees located where a street was to be constructed did not have to be replaced. Now that section reads those trees "that are located within areas designated for the construction of public underground utilities such as water or wastewater lines shall not be required to be replaced," but developers will be required to "submit a tree removal plan with the submittal of public improvement construction plans."
"We’re talking about the private development of a public improvement," Koontz said.
Commissioner Lori Huey argued that making these kinds of demands on developers would increase developers’ complaints that "It’s too hard to build in Kyle." Koontz countered: "When they come in crying it’s too hard to do work here, it’s not too hard to do work here. It’s harder to do quality work here. Any drunken third grader can go out there and moonscape a lot and put a building up in the middle of it. It takes talent and intelligence and quality individuals to put together something that’s visually dynamic and interesting."
My thoughts exactly and now I’m praying that his ideas about quality and developments that are "visually dynamic and interesting" will be reflected throughout the final landscape ordinance.
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