Verified Document

Public Land Development Projects

Related Topics:

Summary of MeetingThis meeting was classified as a public hearing, headed by Councilmember Kenyan R. McDuffie and the Committee on Business and Economic Development on March 5, 2018. The substantive content of the meeting comprised four separate urban development issues including the redevelopment of waterfront station, parcel easement, the redevelopment of center leg freeway, and a Spring Road disposition approval. Each of these issues are legislative bills being proposed and were discussed in order including PR22-0629, B220609, B22-0632, and PR22-0717, starting with the waterfront station disposition approval resolution. Although they are different resolutions, each of these revolved around development, use, or appropriation of publically held property. The meeting shows in a general way how large urban development projects require public review.

Connection to Themes

The meeting was directly relevant to several themes discussed in the course, including taxation and assessment of public property for the purposes of redevelopment, and the methods by which disposition and easement requests are processed. Although a litany of financial issues was a primary subject matter, the underlying concerns did relate to right use of public lands and other urban development strategies. The development of each of these...

Parts of this document are hidden

View Full Document
svg-one

Unfortunately, the meeting did not address the deeper complexities of the issue and much was deferred to legal counsel. Zoning issues were briefly touched upon, but the bulk of the matter related more to real estate development.
Much can be deduced from the meeting’s subtext. For example, it was clear that the disposition process requires public review to prevent conflicts of interest and other ethical or legal problems, offering members of the community—taxpayers—the potential to influence how land is developed in their area. However, it was also clear that the individual members of the public have little actual power. During the meeting, the councilmembers mentioned the formal methods by which citizens can lodge complaints, and this process may be daunting to many individuals without the benefit of a class action lawsuit.

The disposition process can be stalled via protest but not actually stopped in a formal way unless the people can form a coalition. A few persons in attendance raised questions, but few raised actual objections to the land development projects. None were controversial enough, with the exception of proposed Bill 22-0632, which was to amend the Redevelopment of the Center Leg…

Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now