Thursday, May 17, 2007

Arbor District scores knockout of old CCHS fields

The Arbor District PAC has taken successful aim at getting the old CCHS fields building demolished, grass cut and homeless squatting problem abated. I'm sure it would have happened sooner of later, but it is nice to get it done now. Just a few phone calls and the city swung into action.

Once again, it goes to show how much influence a small group of organized people can have in our little city. It also shows that Carbondale is a well staffed city government, that needs citizen input to find problems.

Do you think the owners of that property really plan to develop a small shopping center there? They own two decrepit properties that would make a great entry to that area from W. Main and there is enough land to do something interesting back there.

Good work Arbor District (again). Keep up the pressure to make Carbondale a better place.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow. That sure was easy. If it was so easy to knock down buildings where the homeless and drug addicts congregated, it makes you wonder why we had to spend $150,000 to buy the American Tap building.

It also makes you wonder whether Jackson Hewitt paid for the demolition, or if Brad Cole had the city tear the buildings down for them for free. I don't suppose you would know the answer to that would you, Peter?

Anonymous said...

Glad Brad is making it easy for the Arbor District. i'm sure others deserve kudos but i'll leave the back patting to the politicians..

Guess it is worth mentioning that Jackson County addresses the issue of safe shelter for the homeless.

Anonymous said...

I think this is sad. Knowing that homeless people lived there it was still demolished by the city. Where will they go now? The least we could have done was try to find out who the specific people were and see if we can get them some help/jobs. This is just heartless.

That building sure was an eye sore to people like you and me, but it doesn't mean we have to tear it down.

I remember reading about the stabbing that took place there and that must have prompted the Arbor District PAC to take action. I don't know what other action I would take besides dialing 911.

Homeless people are not evil.

PeterG said...

The owner decided to be a good citizen and take action. I'm sure he could have done a "Fisher" and make it drag out forever.

The key issue with the homeless is drug addiction. You can derive the rest of the answers from that.

Good lord Kyle, snap out of it. No one is good or evil. Everyone is a little of both.

Anonymous said...

" The owner decided to be a good citizen and take action. "

Oh please, they hardly did this out of the goodness of their heart. The building has sat there getting tagged and used for all sorts of nefarious activity for more than four years. A fight breaks out, scares the neighbors, and all of a sudden it goes down on schedule. We weren't born yesterday.

PeterG said...

OK, they are OK citizens and not good citizens. Either way, they didn't have to do anything. They could have absorbed their tickets and acted like Henry Fisher. Since they are planning to redevelop it into a strip mall or the like, sooner or later, it was just a matter of when they were going to spend the money to take the builds down. OK, I'm with you.

You need to get over this idea that the city can do things to property owners that want to protest. It isn't true.

I think we can agree that the negative publicity is the real cause of the movement. If they realized they had exposure, they would have done it before now.

Anonymous said...

I didn't say a whit about the city; I questioned your statement that the owner decided to be a good citizen.

That said, we hardly need another strip mall in town. Carbondale is the capital of strip malls and we don't have any unmet pressing demands. I'd think that's a decent place for a medical office building, new homes (afterall, a big chunk of the adjacent lot is residential), or just about anything less intrusive than a strip mall.

Anonymous said...

If you're worried about the homeless people, why not do something to address their problems. Leaving an old building standing is not the way to help these folks. They need other kinds of help like counseling, etc. You know - address the root problem. I know that's a strange concept to most people. It like trying to prevent the flow of drugs into the U.S. Find out what's fueling the demand and take steps to reduce that.

PeterG said...

Homelessness in Carbondale looks to be mostly about two things, either drug use or medical bills.

Both are big problems of large scope.

PeterG said...

Smart comment by the "If you're worried about the homeless people" anonymous commenter. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

It also shows that Carbondale is a well staffed city government, that needs citizen input to find problems.

The second half of this sentence is exactly what one of the city attorneys told me a while back. Basically, community input is the backbone of any city.

Kyle:
How long have you been in Carbondale? Haven't you noticed that you see the same homeless people again and again? Why do you think that is? Finally, why does the fact they are homeless give them the right to squat on someone else's property?

Anonymous said...

I read the entire blog entries and I am not sure where to put this response. It is a little bi polar
but here goes...
The Arbor District is a good group of people with access to the media.
That means the Mayor will respond to them.
Yes, empty buildings attract the homeless and their problems are drugs and preferred anti social behaviors, that they fully intend to continue.
Joel like Sheila is a nice person.
Both are/were lousy council members but not because they oppose the Mayor. The two make suttle acquesations with no facts to back them up. It would be naive to believe that they are just pairnoid and not informed to a certain entent. They must be protecting someone.
The Mayor to please the Arbor District will employ more police officers. Not necessarily a bad thing. However, the city could cut some costs. Now that they have annexed south onto Midland Hills Road Carbondale Police officers are now patrolling what the county once patrolled. I know that there is very little crime in this area. So why do the City police need to waste time, gas and officers patroling an area the county is still patrolling, due to overlap of roads. Why not have a cooperative effort here to cut cost or to partner. There may be the occassional domestic issue or some speeding to the beach, but certainly not a crime wave.
I think Carbondale needs additional officers especially in the evening.
I also think they need to be where crime happens. If more officers are hired simply to cover more ground, then other progams will be cut unless magically the property tax is covered through retail sales tax, even then...
If the Arbor District wants more officers perhaps they should agree to pay a tax to cover the expense of the additional officers.
As it stands programs, people and services will need to be cut to pay for additional officers, real world. I am proposing that the Mayor proceeds in this issue but with a tight fist on the number of officers and where they will go.
The Mayor, the Arbor District and others need to be carefull what they ask for...
A small group can make things happen. A single agenda without the big picture in mind is what makes me nervous. One can only insist that the Mayor and Council keep the big picture in mind.