Take the Money and Run....

TAD spent the better part of a year breaking every promise he had made to the neighbors.  He bull dozed the house.  He left an empty lot just sitting.  He was a jerk about the parking. He managed to have everyone thinking he was a  creep.  He quit stalking me.  He quit coming around.  There was  a rumor he ran out of money and couldn't afford to build.  I got excited.  I wouldn't mind an empty lot next to me.  Then the "For Sale" sign went up. I was hoping to make him an offer.  But another developer bought the lot.  She grossly over paid for it.  TAD made more money than he should have for being such a jerk.  The lot is now a parking lot for the developer.  She's building two lots across the street.  She never puts silk fences around her properties either.  She's pushing the F.A.R. requirements to the maximum.  I really wonder about the math the City uses.  How houses those size can still have a pool and all of that concrete is beyond me.  The builders leave their trailers on the public right-of-way for days at a time.  My elderly neighbor complained to a council member who happened to be canvasing the neighborhood (to be re-elected), and the trailer was moved the next day. I'm beginning to get the feeling that this is the way our dysfunctional City government works.   First, there are a myriad of complaints about the problems associated with the developers.  (For example, the water run off problem).  The City council works to create ordinances to eliminate those problems.  The ordinances pass and people expect problems to be resolved.  The developers don't follow the codes. The City staff does not enforce the codes.  If  the neighbors notice and complain, the City sends a staff member out to smooth things over (Not necessarily enforce the codes, just resolve the immediate complaint).  However, if the neighbors don't notice or complain, the problems continue and expand until the problem gets big enough that it becomes an issue again.  Repeat the cycle.  Unfortunately, what is happening here is that people begin to think that City council members are the problem, when in fact, it's the City staffers not enforcing codes.  Our council members are becoming the de facto enforcers, bringing things to City staff attention when people complain to them.  But I do think it is fair to say that our council members are spending more time than should be necessary to manage problems that would have been prevented if codes were consistently enforced.