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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMULBERRY LEMAY CROSSINGS, LOT ONE, FILING ONE - FINAL PUD - 36-96D - MEDIA - (23)Our views Last-minute legal threat backfires ■ Attempt to halt MUI- A citizen group's decision to serve berry-Lemay Crossings members of the project hearing fails; Planning and Zon- grandstanding move is ing Board with let - outrageous % - ,2A7- U 0 ters threatening le- gal action just before the P&Z convened Thursday night was down- right wrong. A Boulder legal firm representing Citizens Against Regional Shopping Centers delivered the letters to P&Z board members minutes before the controversial hearing scheduled on the Mulberry- Lemay Crossings project. The letter stated that board members could face legal action if they went ahead with the hearing. CARS members be- lieve the public vote last year that overturned the P&Z board's initial rejection of the preliminary plan was illegal. That election, in April, required P&Z to consider the project's final review. CARS members have every right to challenge the vote in court. They also can pursue an appeal to City Council to overturn the P&Z decision. But threatening the P&Z Board members just min- utes before the meeting was a silly grandstanding event that backfired on them. In fact, the move eroded the group's credibility and failed to achieve their goal — the hearing went on as planned. This legal threat just prior to meetings is not new, but it has surfaced more in the past few years, particularly on growth -related issues. The tactic is abominable, and certainly does not ad- vance good government. This hearing had been planned since the fall of 1999. If legal action is forthcoming, the legal firm could have delivered the letters any time in the past few months. Thursday night, it was clear that P&Z board members weren't going to bow to such tactics, and we applaud them for that. "This is not the way you do business with people," board member) he Meyer said prior to the vote that approved Project. This has been a difficult process forall involved, including the P&Z board. They are f a public board, and their decisions are open to Pub- lic criticism. In fact, the Coloradoaneth�the rial board has voiced its disagreement board's previous decisions on the Mulberry- Lemay project But personal attacks and late -hour, strong-arm legal maneuvers go beyond the scope of what these volunteer board members should have to experience.