Council continues to play politics with the local economy Fifteen months after promising to review the ordinance every six months, council has hired yet another consultant in an attempt to justify the anti-business zoning ordinance of June 1999. Borough Council passed a zoning ordinance restricting occupancy on the first floor of State Street in December 1999. After considerable testimony against the proposal from the business and property owners in town, Council passed the restrictions 7-0. They also made a declaration to review the ordinance every six months to ascertain its effectiveness.
In June 2000, Council let it be known that they were not going to reconsider the ordinance as they felt it had not had enough time to work. There were no objective criteria put forth by them at the time. A joint committee of the MB&PA and the MBA (Council's official business group) met that month to study the ordinance and recommend solid, objective criteria that could be used in December when Council was due to review the ordinance again.
Five points were developed:
1) Has the ordinance had a devisive or unifying effect on the business community?
2) What businesses have come to Media specifically because of the zoning ordinance?
3) What rentals have been turned away specifically because of the ordinance?
4) A survey of all property owners affected by the restrictions should be taken to ascertain whether they were in favor or opposed to keeping the restrictions.
5) A declaration: If council could not show clear, objective benefit to the ordinance or at least demonstrate where it had worked successfully in similar application elsewhere, the ordinance should be repealed in December 2000. |
