Coalition for Community Schools
\nWorking for quality education in the community
\nJuly 6, 2010<\/p>\n
The Coalition for Community Schools has filed an appeal with the St. Louis County Planning
\nDepartment that seeks to overturn a March 15 decision by Planning Director Barbara Hayden
\nthat members of the coalition believe was illegal and contrary to the county\u2019s own zoning
\nordinance. Hayden\u2019s unilateral decision added new language to the county\u2019s zoning ordinance,
\na change that normally requires public hearings and county board approval.
\nThe appeal, which is a right under county ordinance, came in a July 6 letter to Hayden. The
\nmatter now heads to the county\u2019s Board of Adjustment, which will hear arguments in the case.<\/p>\n
At issue, according to Tim Kotzian, chair of the Coalition for Community Schools, is whether
\nadministrators have the authority to changes laws or ordinances on their own. Kotzian, who has served as zoning administrator for the city of Tower for more than 20 years, said administrators have authority to enforce existing ordinances, not to rewrite them to suit their needs.<\/p>\n
In this case, county planners were faced with a request from the St. Louis County School District to build two new schools in Forest and Agricultural Management (FAM) zone districts. The county\u2019s ordinance does not provide for \u201cpublic\/semi\u201d public\u201d uses in FAM districts, which
\ncounty officials realized would prevent schools from being built in the areas the school district
\nhad identified.<\/p>\n
So, in a March 15 letter, Hayden said the ordinance should allow for public\/semi\u00e2\u20ac\u0090public uses in
\nFAM districts. If allowed to stand, said Kotzian, Hayden\u2019s decision would be an unprecedented power grab by the planning director, one that would overturn the rights and responsibilities of elected officials, such as township officials and the county board, who would normally have input whenever the ordinance is amended.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe think the county ordinance was correct to limit large public projects in FAM districts,\u201d said Kotzian. \u201cThese districts are created in areas with very little development and limited public infrastructure, and the residents who choose to locate in these areas have a legitimate expectation that huge and intrusive public development won\u2019t be allowed right next door.\u201d<\/p>\n
Field Township Supervisor Keith Aho said large projects need to be located in areas where they are appropriate. “Field Township is happy to see that Johnson Controls and the school board considers the township to be a desired site for a new campus… but we have 56 sections of land, with areas designated for intense usage. This site is not one of them.\u201d Aho noted that the site in question, located 4.8 miles north of Cook, is ringed with deer stands and is intensively hunted during the whitetail deer season. \u201cI wouldn’t want 400 kids to test the range of a 30\u00e2\u20ac\u009006 on a November afternoon,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Kotzian said the Coalition for Community Schools and county planners are in full agreement
\nthat some places are better suited than others for intensive development. \u201cWe agree with the county\u2019s ordinance, which seeks to direct large scale development like schools into areas with existing infrastructures, like cities. We believe schools should remain in the heart of the
\ncommunities they serve, and Hayden\u2019s decision undermines that goal and leads to wasteful
\nexpenditures of public dollars on unnecessary infrastructure. And it hurts cities in our region at the same time. That\u2019s why we say the school district plan, developed by Johnson Controls, has never made sense,\u201d said Kotzian. \u201cWe\u2019d like the school district to join us in a sincere search for alternatives.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Coalition for Community Schools is an organization involving local elected officials,
\nresidents, and business owners from the Tower-Soudan, Cook, and Orr areas. The group was
\nformed to advocate for alternatives to a school district restructuring plan that coalition
\nmembers see as harmful to communities and, ultimately, to students.<\/p>\n
For more information, contact:
\nTim Kotzian
\nXXXXXXXXX<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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