My letter to Flat Rock Mayor Bob Staton

You can get so busy telling everyone else what to do that you forget to do it yourself, so I finally wrote my (second) letter to Mayor Staton and the Flat Rock village councilmen:

Dear Mayor Staton:

Thank you for allowing so much time for public input at the November 10 village council meeting.

My understanding from what you said at that council meeting is that the Village of Flat Rock has not yet received any request for zoning compliance/changes from Course Doctors or any representative of theirs on the Highland Lake Golf Club property. And since Flat Rock has not received any request, the village cannot decide one way or another on whether or not to grant any changes to zoning for the property, because there is nothing to decide on at this point.

So I’m a little confused as to how appointing an advisory committee to look at the Highland Lake Golf Club property does anything. They have nothing to advise on or against since no one has requested any changes to the property. Are they to decide what the village would find acceptable there? That advice could change based on what current or future owners of the property ask for. Can this advisory committee say one or two soccer fields are acceptable when no one has yet asked to build soccer fields in that location? The county says they have a December 31, 2011, deadline on their option agreement so time is of the essence, but they have not yet asked anything in writing of the Village of Flat Rock. It seems the time to have an advisory committee is only once specific plans have been submitted to the Flat Rock zoning office, and the committee would then have something tangible to discuss.

In addition to my concerns about the role and ability of an advisory committee to do anything at this point, I am opposed to the county purchase of the property and to the building of any soccer fields on the existing Highland Lake Golf Club property.

Thank you.