Amador City Issues and Comments
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posted by Amador City | 6:24 PM
Amador City Comments
Please post your comments and opinions regarding issues before the Amador City Council or issues you think are important to the city.
15 Comments:
August 15, 2005
To: Mayor Richard Lynch
From: David Dittman
Re: Proposed Sign Review Ordinance.
My biggest concern with any proposed or existing ordinance is how it is interpreted and applied.
The former ordinance assigned that responsibility to the Gold Pan Merchants Association. Unfortunately, since that ordinance revision was made, more than 5 years ago, the Sign Review Committee has never met as a group to review a proposed sign. The first time they ever met as a committee was 3 weekends ago to review the alterations and re-hanging of the Lanza Imports sign. Makes you wonder how much importance they placed on that responsibility.
I would like to amend Section 2.0 that currently reads “The Amador City Council will appoint a committee comprised of five Amador City commercial district business owners...” to “The Amador City Council will appoint a 5 member committee comprised of 3 Amador City commercial district business owners, 1 resident and 1 council member”. I don’t think the City should have an ordinance review and implementation committee without at least 1 elected council member and one resident of the City (non-business owner) on the committee .
If this type of committee poses a problem for members of the council, I would suggest that we go back to how the ordinance was originally written and make the approval of signs part of the Design Review Committee’s responsibilities.
To: Joyce Thierkauf
From: David Dittman
Re: City Council presentation
I want to thank you for your efforts and excellent presentation on the potential maximum build out of the remaining undeveloped Amador City property. Your efforts will help the council to know the facts and react accordingly. I am equally as concerned about the future growth of our city.
However, I think it is important to understand the laws that dictate what any municipal government can do in the face of growth. If we deal in the facts and not emotions we will have a valid position on which to act.
We must first start with the fifth amendment to the constitution and how that one paragraph dictates all that follows.
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
There have been many Supreme Court interpretations of these few words and from them the following restraints have been allowed on a persons property rights
General Plan: All control of property development stems from this document. It sets forth the type of use through zoning, building density and all other conditions for property development. If a resident is concerned about growth, I suggest they start by studying this document closely. It will be posted on the web for downloading within the next month or you can get a copy at City Hall. The City Planner decides if a proposed property development application is in compliance with the General Plan.
Municipal Code: In accordance with the general plan, a city government may enact ordinances (design review, parkland acquisition, zoning and code requirements, etc. See chapter 15, 16 and 17 of our Municipal Code) to specify property development conditions to comply with the general plan. The Design Review committee, the City Engineer and the Building Inspector determines if a proposed property development is in compliance and the City Council rules on any dispute.
Finally, under certain conditions there are procedures that a municipal agency may request or are triggered on large developments. CEQA, (California Environmental Quality Act) can be triggered by the size or potential impact of a development.
If a property owner is in compliance with the conditions set forth in the documents and procedures above, there is nothing legally that can be done to stop the development of a persons property.
I completely agree with concerns about the potential growth in our city, but knowledge of the rules is our only chance to influence what might happen. Emotions have no influence on compliance with the laws.
To Dave Dittman
Please check the Sign Application file in the City Hall. There are at least 20 sign applications reviewed by the Sign Committee since the year 2000, 14 of which have signatures of all the members present at the meeting. At one time yours truly was the chairperson of the committee and I usually just indicated approval by a check mark at the appropriate place without benefit of all signatures. Admittedly, the meetings were not posted according to the Brown Act; but they did take place and usually the applicant was present. I'm curious, where did you get your information?
Joyce,
A signature on a document does not mean a meeting took place. I got my information from sign committee members who said the application was passed from member to member to sign off on. I stand by what I said.
To: Mayor Richard Lynch, Council members and city residents
From: David Dittman
Re: Granting sewer hook-ups outside of City limits
I think that reasonable deliberation and soliciting input from all parties is important to any decision-making process. However, I also think a timely response to any request is equally important.
Mr. Jaggers has made a reasonable request to the City and we have solicited expert advice from the City’s Engineer and sewer consultant and received thoughtful responses.
I appreciate Ms. Thierkauf’s concern about the accuracy of these experts statements and her wish to substantiate them. However, in fairness to Mr. Jaggers request, I think a deadline for making a decision should be set for the Sept. 15, 2005 Council meeting. Ms. Thierkauf and any other interested City resident should be advised to provide any information that she feels is important by that date and after review, the Council should vote on the request.
Dickman said the sign review has not met in 5 years, I met with the sign review committe twice 2 years ago for my current sign.We met the first time at buffalo chips, the whole committe,and the second time at goldpan meeting at the aquatic cow.Was I dreaming? Get your facts straight,and do your homework.We are watching and listening.
To: Aquatic Cow
From: David Dittman
Re: Facts
It’s good to see residents taking a active interest in our town and it’s development and I encourage you to continue watching and listening. I applaud your compliance with city ordinance requirements and encourage all residents and businesses to do the same.
To:City Council Members
Please enforce the existing general plan and all existing ordinances - particulaly the sections regarding preserving the historical appearance of the town.
To:City Council Members
Please enforce the existing General Plan and all city ordinances - in particular the sections regarding preserving the historical nature of the town.
The people who are asking for the enforcement of the city ordinances,are the very people who are violating them.I am referring to the people who are giving this city a bad reputation.I would like to suggest to these people,and you know who you are,and so do we,sell your property to someone who is not angry and is not emotionally immature, and we will have a nice little city with nice people.
Well,here we are,many months since the new sign ordinance took effect,and we have the very person,who asked in this blog,to enforce all city ordinance's,still has his old buisness sign up.He must think we all are stupid,and he is smarter then us.Where is the city council? The mayor lives right across the street,does'nt he see it? Maybe he just does'nt want to.We need our elected officials to do the job we elected them to do,not look the other way.The council must be scared of him,because you know he is a big time real estate mogul. Ha Ha,ya think?What else could it be?
I would like to inform the new and old Amador City people about another dirty little city secret.Next to the amador city fire house on the creek,the adjacent owners made an agreement with the city way back in 1998.The city received that parcel from a long time citizen,she deeded it to the city,to be made a park for all of us to enjoy,along the creek.The deed was very old,it used landmarks long ago gone.This is where the deal comes in.The adjacent owners claim that part of the parcel was their land.(should I mention these owners had only lived here in amador city a couple of years)Here's the deal,they would not contest the deed, if they could build closer to the creek.The city agreed,the owners agreed,all they had to was survey it and sign it.They finished building their addition,and that was that.They did'nt sign anything.Not only that,because thy did'nt do their part,the city lost a grant to improve the land for a park.Now they are using that land as if it was theirs.Again i have asked city officials why they have'nt file legal action to enforce the agreement,no comment from them.Could it be that the mayor,who lives two doors down,is afraid of these people too?Sounds like the good ole boy's network is alive and well in amador city.
This sounds like a classic Grand Jury complaint to me.Tell me what you think.Call me at 267-0605
This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
Hometown View #4
Hello, my name is Mike Rolf and this is my hometown view.
As I was pondering the current status of our community, I thought about the art of communication. I definitely envy people who have the ability to speak in a group and get their point across with convincing clarity. They have a much better chance of changing a persons mind on a subject, than someone like myself who often walks away from a discussion thinking, why didn’t you remember to say this or that.
But I guess the real question is…. Why do we want to change people’s minds? Why is my opinion better than theirs? What is it in our human nature that makes us want to be right all the time and for others to realize that they should listen to us.
So at this point I am sure you are asking, what in the heck does this have to do with the state of our community. Well, to be honest, I think communication is the major component in the current growth of our county. Now I’m not just talking about the increase in building and development but the journey that we are all taking and sharing at this time. The people of Amador are talking about their wants and needs and we are starting to use many different forums to make this happen. One of these venues is the city council and planning commission meetings that have been held regularly for eons. Over the years the attendance could be compared to the lonely janitor who sweeps the theater while the cast rehearses. However, lately you can often see people scramble for additional folding chairs as citizens are coming out in the evenings to voice their concerns about their quality of life in Amador.
There have been countless workshops on growth issues that concern us all. They are also issues that until recently we were willing to take on another day. While we were enjoying the good life, some were digging in for there own good life through the use of these very meetings that we didn’t have time for. Those that seem to prosper in mysterious ways are often referred to as the good ole boys. You know that things are being done in a hasty or shady manner but you just don’t have the energy to bark because life is treating you pretty decent and it seems to be a losing battle for anyone to go up against the entrenched opponents. You read quotes in the paper and the spin seems to point the finger back at those that dare to question; much in the same way that people have been called ‘Un-American’ for opposing a war.
The good news is that I definitely see a future with our name on it. The good ole boys are being put on notice. Sheriff Martin is not the only new sheriff in town. The people of Amador County are coming out of the woodwork and letting our officials know what they want and expect.
How has this happened? Well when you have enough people emailing about the unbridled growth of our county, things seem to happen. Concerned citizens banned together to form the Amador Citizens for Smart Growth. Kathy Allen has pretty much taken on the adventure of researching smart growth around the country as a full time job. The group has made it clear that growth is going to happen and you can’t stop it, but you can direct it in a way that will preserve our quality of life. And rather than eyeing this group as a bunch of crazed radicals, it is apparent that they are doing the homework for the rest of us and presenting it in an educational and reflective manner.
The Board of Supervisors are fully aware of past practices that have put us in our current position. The county is a large entity and like a steamship, it is tough to change course in a small time frame. I fully appreciate the open ears of the supervisors and their appointment of the General Plan Advisory Committee in a quest to update our General Plan. It is a very diverse group comprised of people who have often taken pot shots at each other over the years. And this is where the communication is starting to work. Getting people together in a room for 2 ½ hours a couple of times a month can do wonders. It looked like there was going to be a slugfest after the first couple of meetings, but a wondrous thing has happened. People are listening. They may not agree, but they are beginning to understand the thinking and reasoning of those they viewed as opponents and the hint of compromise is in the air. People who are concerned about city development are understanding that those in agriculture have concerns that are just as important to them. Many people are realizing that the Foothill Conservancy is active in providing research and statistics to the community for smart decision making rather than chaining themselves to tractors.
I appreciate ACTC for throwing cold water on our heads and trying to make us realize that our traffic concerns are real and will multiply at a phenomenal rate if we keep the status quo. This is one of the many areas where the county ties into the cities. What Jackson or Sutter Creek does effects us all. Traffic is probably the main reason why citizens are so concerned about how growth takes place in both the county and cities. We also have to take into consideration the growing wastewater issues. I realize that Jackson Hills was proposed as an answer to growing wastewater problems in Jackson but it is time to work together. A county-wide waste system is more efficient and economical than cities tackling it on their own.
Most importantly, it is time to once again talk about a Council of Governments. All of these problems are shared by all of us. The economics for the county is getting as bad as what the cities have had to deal with the past few years. We can learn from each other and help each other build a strong community or we can remain fractured and paranoid. A council of governments can meet regularly and talk…..and listen and they will be amazed at what will happen. The people are up and speaking and it is time for public officials to listen to their constituents. There is a new sheriff in town and if you are upset about ACTC telling you the truth, your not going to like what the voters tell you. Let’s continue to bring out those extra folding chairs and communicate our wants and needs. And be willing to listen to others….believe it or not, there are some good ideas out there that you haven’t thought of yet!
My name is Mike Rolf and that is my hometown view.
We purchased 5 acres at 14494 Fremont Mine Rd two years ago and just recently discoverd that the property line shown to us is not the actual line. This cuts into the only two buildable areas on the land.
For future prospective buyers--please have your land surveyed before you buy. The person who sells you the land may not care enough to be exact.
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