Objection to rezoning Grass Verge on Griffith Ave.
Where do I start with my objections to the above plan? While I will seek to be measured, what I want to write would turn the air blue. So please make no mistake, I am apoplectic with anger. The amendment is to rezone the Grass Verge adjacent to the field on Griffith Avenue from Z9, which designates that this land may be used for amenity/ open space land or part of the green network to White Land which will leave the verge without a specific zoning so the land can be used for development at some time in the future with no objectives or specific controls. The fact that this is a late amendment makes me question whether DCC are concerned about a legal challenge. If the proposed development in the field proceeds as the CAIRN development did should we expect DDC to follow up this questionable and fundamental amendment, with the claim that the trees are diseased and have trees removed as they did in 2021?
The substantive issue is that our environment is undergoing intensive development and the loss of any green community space in unacceptable as we will not see one inch of community space or Parkland added to our area, so we will certainly fight to retain every inch.
Planning experts concur that to rezone previously zoned land to white land is developmental suicide for any neighborhood. We do not trust DCC and will challenge the legality of this plan. DCC should be explicit in setting out the plan for rezoning of any land and any justification should be made available and not hide behind the label of White Land. This decision-making is at best not transparent and is at worse subterfuge. If DCC do indeed hide behind this blanket label, then we will challenge its legality.
The neighborhood of Griffith Avenue was built in the 1930s as housing for military personnel who fought in the war of independence and the civil war. The scheme won an international architectural award. This recognition, from an international community was the first of its kind for our fledgling state. So, to denigrate what is, in the eyes of many, a national treasure, is an outrage. The recent scandals in planning leave us with no choice but to question the motives and practices of DCC. It is a citizen’s duty to demand clarity from its public servants.
The impact of this plan will include further congestion, which at this point is unacceptable on top of the chronic congestion we now deal with that has arisen from the bicycle lane fiasco. I should point out I am an enthusiastic advocate of bicycle lanes. Shame the cyclists don’t agree with me.
In conclusion, we will fight for the current Z9 zoning to remain.