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Not all Metro Council meetings are appointment
television (Spectrum channel 184, AT&T U-verse channel 99 or watch online)
but Thursday (October 26) the Council will take action on a number of Old
Business items of consequence and interest to the city as a whole. Among the highlights:
An
Ordinance… Relating to Employee Authority in Immigration Matters:
I’m the lead author and one of five co-sponsors
of this “separation ordinance,” which is intended to make clear that: 1) Louisville
Metro Government public safety officials do not enforce federal civil
immigration law; and 2) Metro employees do not discriminate on the basis of
immigration status.
There is a lot of confusion about ordinances
like this, so I encourage
you to read the full text of mine, here. As you can see, this ordinance does NOT mean
the City of Louisville provides safe harbor to criminals. It means the City of Louisville wants
everyone to call the police when they are the victim of or witness to a crime
without fear they will be asked about their immigration status. It means we want everyone to call EMS in a
medical emergency. We want everyone to
use our library services. It means
Louisville shall be a place of welcome for all.
The ordinance passed out of Public Safety
Committee last Wednesday (10/18) by a (Democratic) party-line vote of 4-3 after
a robust debate, which I expect to continue before the full Council. You can watch video of the committee meeting
(beginning 06:46) here.
Legislation
relating to the Butchertown Stadium Development District:
As I
discussed at length in the last edition of eNews, my decision whether to support the legislation relating this project is primarily
a matter of right-pricing the City’s liability, risk and reward under the terms of the
Development Agreement (now as amended) against the developers’ same stakes in the deal.
In addition to the fundamental concern I previously
expressed over the City purchasing the 25 acres of real Commercial Property
surrounding the stadium – and the developers ultimately owning it – there is another
wrinkle in the deal that particularly bothers me: this week, the developers firmed up their commitment to spending
at least $45 million to build the Stadium/Parcel but they won’t guarantee spending at least $85M to develop the Commercial
Property. The deal is supposed to be:
City $30M, State $30M and Developers $130M ($45M + $85M). Instead, the agreement states, “It is expected
that additional private investment in excess of $100 million will be spent with
respect to the development of the Commercial Property.”
I don’t doubt the developers want – and even
expect – tenants to sink $100M+ into the prime real estate, but: a) stuff
happens; and b) at least in this case, I think the City’s commitment ought to
be based on the developers’ actual costs ($45M + x), not the sum total of third-party
expenditures. I’m also disheartened that
project labor agreement discussions haven’t been more productive.
Yet, still this could be a transformative development
and that can’t be discounted completely.
The legislation passed out of Labor and Economic Development (10/5) and
Budget (10/3) Committees by matching votes of 4-1 but not without
consternation. I expect a closer call
Thursday; and I haven’t made up my mind which way to vote yet.
You can watch video of the committee meetings (beginning 05:04) here, (beginning 10:55) continued
here and (beginning 07:41) here.
An
Ordinance Rejecting the Recommendation of the Planning Commission and Denying
the Requested Zoning Change… on Property Located at 6500 Forest Cove and 7301
River Road:
This is the Prospect Cove affordable senior
housing case. Although I’ve stated my
contempt for land use politics before in these pages, this is a classic example
for those of you studying the craft:
The developer wants to build a four-story,
198-unit apartment building next door to the Prospect Village Shopping
Center. There is opposition to the
project in Prospect, including by the City of Prospect. The Louisville Metro Planning Commission recommended
approval by a vote of 6-0. The
Planning/Zoning, Land Design and Development Committee of the Metro Council reversed
the Planning Commission’s findings by a vote of 4-2 at the behest of Councilman
Scott Reed (R-16). (I voted to affirm.) Now, the full Council will decide.
What say you? You can review the Prospect Cove case file here and watch video of the committee meeting (beginning 13:31) here.
There’ll
be a hot time in the old town Thursday night.
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For breaking news and information, please follow
me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. If you have a question or comment,
please call me at: (502) 574-1108 or email: brandon.coan@louisvilleky.gov (and copy jasmine.masterson@louisvilleky.gov). If you have a service request, please
use MetroCall 311 online to submit or check on it, and get in touch
with our office if you experience any problems.
Thanks very much.
Councilman Brandon Coan
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