I spent the last two evenings on Aycock Neighborhood affairs.  Monday night was our board of directors meeting during which the results of a neighborhood-wide straw poll was presented on the question of whether not the residents approved of the site plan for a large lot on Chestnut Street known as Dunleath.  Tuesday evening was spent listening to the issue as it came before Greensboro's Historic Preservation Commission (HPC).

The neighborhood straw poll indicated a 2-1-margin lack of support for the Dascalakis' plan to develop the property that will ulimately result in a total of 72 (correction: 60) condos and town houses on the former site of one of Greensboro's most magnificent mansions.  Responding to that poll, the board of directors voted 4-2 against the plan and the results of both votes were presented to the HPC last night.

After a protracted and somewhat confusing hearing, the HPC voted overwhelmingly to endorse the site plan anyway.  With this vote the Dascalakis family now has 'permission to plan' from the city.  No Certificate of Appropriateness was applied for nor received  for the concept but the density and building types have now been OK'd.  The developer will have to come back to the neighborhood and the Commission to get all of the detailed plans approved in order to assure that the structures, landscape and streetscape adhere to the Historic District Guidelines that govern Greensboro's historic district overlay zones.

I voted for the site plan because I believe the development will be a boon to my Aycock Neighborhood.  In addition, the property is zoned RM-18 multifamily and the developer is well within his rights to build to the allowed density of 105 units.  The fact that the Dascalakis family is only pushing for 60 units is, in my mind, a gift.  And with acrhitect Jerry Liemenstoll doing the design work I have every confidence that the development will be wonderful.

From my understanding, the townhomes will start in low 200k range.  I'm sure they are pre-selling so now is your chance to live in Greensboro's finest neighborhood.

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My Dad says wait as does my brother Keith.  Even though I have recieved some gratifying and surprising pledges of support for a run at the City Council, others, both online and off, concur with my Kentucky family.  Jinni and I both realize that all of the stars are in alignment for a winning run for the City Council when we view things from a certain angle, but when we step back and view things from a slightly different angle, the stars don't line up quite so well.

Sure, Jinni is on the mend but the mending has taken its toll financially and familially.  In addition, my business is still in the incubator and not quite ready to stand on its own without my full attention.

I know myself well enough that when I get elected to serve in public office, the time I will spend on the obligation will cause some of my other obligations to suffer.  I'm just not a person who goes at something half-assed.  Even though serving on the City Council is supposed to be a 'part-time' gig, I see myself as serving more in the mold of hard-charging Councilwoman Carmany than some other council members who seem to only spend the amount of time on the job that is commensurate with the pitifully low $9,000.00 yearly stipend currently offered.

Yeah, I know... I shouldn't be in it for the money... I should want to serve only out of a sense of community and such service requires sacrifices of both time and money.  Here in the real world things aren't always so altruistic.  I just can't find a way to spend my undeniable sense of community to repay my creditors (edited, thanks Ali)... not to mention how such a financial sacrifice would negatively affect my family and my customers.

During the recent flap over salary increases for both the School Board and the County Commissioners I heard this phrase over and over: "...They knew what the job paid before they took it."  Well, I know what the job of serving on City Council pays in dollars and costs in time and I simply can't afford either right now.

I wish lots of luck and wisdom to all of the candidates for Council.  The future of my city rests largely in your hands.  Here's to hoping you always do the right thing by all of the citizens of Greensboro.  I'll be watching... very closely.  (And get that salary thing fixed, will you?  There's a lot of us out here who would like to serve if they could better afford to do so.)

Now let's move on.

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