Marathon council tries to allay land-use plan fears
BY ROBIN BOYLE
Citizen Staff
MARATHON
— Marathon City
Council members this week refuted rumors about the intent of the city's
new land-use plan.
Rumors have been flying
around Marathon
accusing the city of using the new Comprehensive Plan to snatch homes
from poor people and hand them over to private land developers,
according to the mayor and city council members.
At this week's council
meeting, Mayor John Bartus spent several minutes adamantly denying the
rumors and urging residents to call City Hall with concerns.
"We are all very
accessible," said Councilwoman Marjie Mearns.
Calling them "urban
legends," Bartus said the crux of the rumors is that the city plans to
"...take most neighborhoods in the west through eminent domain and give
the land to developers. That's a violation of law," he said.
The city has no Community
Redevelopment Areas, which would be the only way through which a
government could take property. Bartus said the city at one time did
discuss establishing a
CRA
but it was "deemed inappropriate" for the area.
"A CRA is for blighted
areas, and with the property values here it would be a huge stretch to
find a slum," he said. "And even so, it still would not allow the
government to take private property.
"The tooth fairy would
have a better chance at winning the lottery than finding a CRA in
Marathon," he said.
There has been some vocal
opposition to the city's Comprehensive Plan, five years in the making.
Bartus said developing
the Comprehensive Plan has been challenging, but that it has all been
done in public, with public input.
"People still think it
will allow us to magically evade state law. You can put puppies in the
oven and call them biscuits, but they won't be. If the Comprehensive
Plan is challenged the city stops. It would stop a lot of good things
and that would be foolish," Bartus said. "The comprehensive plan will
maintain the character of the city."
Councilman Bob Miller
said the comprehensive plan will be used to protect the community.
"We designed the [Land
Development Regulations] to preserve and make the community the way we
want it. We need to start rebuilding the community. We lost a lot as
people cashed in and moved out," Miller said.
Treating stormwater
The council unanimously
approved the first reading of the stormwater utility ordinance that will
become effective on second reading at the May 25 council meeting.
The city, once federal
permitting is complete, will take on responsibility for treating and
discharging stormwater, as required by the state.
The council agreed to
change some wording in the proposed ordinance, including the set-up of
the administrative hearing board. At first it was to be composed of a
representative from the finance department, the stormwater utility
department, and the city manager's office. However, Bartus pointed out
that anyone going before the board with an appeal would be complaining
to the very people in charge of the utility.
Saying it would be
"stacked against" the complainant, he suggested the hearing board
instead consist of the entire City Council. The suggestion was approved
unanimously.
A property tax assessment
will be collected annually to pay for the service. A stormwater fund
will be established to collect taxes for services, operations,
maintenance, repairs, and project and administrative costs. The city
manager's office will administer the program.
There is no central
collection point for stormwater. Each road and neighborhood collects the
run-off in a variety of ways, including swales and pipe systems.
rboyle@keysnews.com
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