"Cowardice asks the question...is it safe? Expediency asks the question...is it politic? Vanity asks the question...is it popular? But conscience asks the question...is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but one must take it because it is right." ~Dr. Martin Luther King

Monday 4 July 2016

IT'S NOT THAT COMPLICATED

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "CAREFUL WHAT YOU ASK FOR": 

He might be inexperienced, but he can sure toss out numbers quite effectively to strengthen his point. He said that the developer is asking for a 50% increase in density. This actually translates to 1 additional house per acre. Instead of 2 houses per acre, they want 3. I'm not saying council should approve this change or not, all I'm saying is that it doesn't sound to outrageous of a request. He's not asking for three 20 story condos. 

Posted by Anonymous to  Our Town and Its Business at 4 July 2016 at 14:40

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Your understanding is the same as mine. I asked Tom on his Facebook page  to confirm my understanding.  Jim Abrams responded and said taxes were a tertiary consideration after quality of life.

When Tom finally responded, he said it cost taxpayers less for density to be appropriate than for overdevelopment. He still did not give a definitive answer.  

It's a while since I asked about average subdivision density. I believe the answer  at the time was 3.5 per acre. 

Calculations include roads, boulevards, sidewalks, easements, parks, school sites ,storm water ponds and whatever other utilities might be needed by the municipality. Flood plain is excluded from development, not included in parks but I believe figures in the over-all acreage. 

Land parcels are different sizes. A small parcel might not need all amenities but costs  are shared  wherever they are built. School boards must buy their sites but they pay raw land price even though 
the site  is serviced by the developer .

The developer installs all hard services and the municipality does not take ownership for twenty-four months to ensure all are problem-free. 

The development process takes years . Bank charges for carrying the land are part of the overheads.  Permits are provided on payment of lot levies, currently, probably in the range of $50,000 a unit . It varies by density. Two lots per acre is likely the same as three. Town houses and condos are less. 

Every penny of cost is borne by the homebuyer. Mavrinac residents  paid for their first two parks. The rest of us paid for the third to stop the site from being developed. 

Councilors who voted to litigate to force the land to be sold to the town were rewarded in the last election. 

That's how it works my friends. It's  how you get the government you get. If you don't pay attention until the campaign starts. Most people don't. It happens every time and at every level. 

If the community doesn't stand for anything, neither does the Council. 

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

That first comment looks suspiciously like the "speech writer"/everything writer for Tom and Mike.

Anonymous said...

FBI will not charge Hillary with being the worst e-mailer in the world.

Anonymous said...

Who's Tom and Mike?

Anonymous said...

Why are we concerned about FBI?