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Thursday, October 22, 2009

What Are Your Milton Priorities?


With the various opinions shared on Accessmilton.com daily, it is obvious that citizens priorities vary greatly. To that end, we thought it might be enjoyable to kick out some of the often discussed topics and get your feel on where they would be on your priority list for the city.

We also encourage you to offer your own questions in the comments section below to encourage engagement.

1. Is sewer a big deal to you or do you believe density can be handled under the law of zoning regulations?

2. Do you agree with the gating and blocking of public city roads like Club Creek Drive and Cowart Road are justified or not?

3. Is the equestrian community truly a value or do they just get in the way?

4. Would you be ok with the city developing out at one home per acre or would you like to see the large privately owned parcels remain?

5. Does the city need it's own city hall? If so, where would you put it and why?

6. Do you view the open roads of Milton as neighborhood nodes or do you believe the only neighborhoods are subdivisions?

7. Does the city need another retail area or do you believe such areas should be limited to only Crabapple and Hwy 9?

8. With right under 30 police officers, do you believe that is plenty for our current population or would you encourage council to hire more?

9. Currently, the city only has three parks: Providence Park, Birmingham Park, and Bell Memorial. Is that enough for our city or should there be more?

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Density cannot be controlled by the law of zoning regulations. All it takes is for the wrong people with the leniency to permit spot zoning to open up the door to higher density. If sewer extension is permitted then an increase in density will follow, it will not be immediate, but will happen slowly, then we'll all wake up one morning and the Milton we have today which we all appreciate and enjoy will have dissappeared. It will happen progressively, and it only takes a council that doesn't represent what the people want for it to happen.

Anonymous said...

Those who are lenient and sympathize with developers will allow this to happen. Voters you better be educated on who is lenient and who is not. Check the voting records for Bill Lusk, and Karen Thurman over the last 3 years, I don't remember even ONE Time where they voted against a sewer or zoning issue, they always sided with the person or company trying to push the envelope. So think about what you want for our city before you carelessly place your vote.

Anonymous said...

Where do you think the money is to put in all the sewer lines that you seem to think will magically appear? Fulton County doesn't have the money and the city of Milton certainly doesn't have money earmarked for sewers. Sewer is a non-issue for those areas that currently do not have sewer. Our concern for the city of Milton should be on the growth of tax revenue centered around our current commercial zoning areas.

Anonymous said...

I used to be a JZB KOOL AID Drinker. I still completely agree that sewer needs to stay out of Milton. I also now know that Karen Thurman and Bill Lusk care about Milton just as much as JZB does. They just have some common sense.

I voted for Tart and JZB 2 years ago because I was told that the other candidates would over develop Milton and were pro sewer.

Despite the same claims being made now by Al, Tina and Bernie about their opponents today - that is simply not true. Tina, Al and Bernie are lying to simply get elected.

Why is a city council position, that pays 1000 a month, so important that you have to lie about your opponent? How do you look at yourself in the mirror?

If any candidate or council person actually voted to over develop or really "extend sewer" they would be run out of town over night, their home burned and any trace of their prior existence removed from the history books. Even a TV CSI would not be able to find them.

Fortunately I think many people like me are finally realizing what I have. JZB and her like are simply against everything and that hurts Milton. We are a laughing stock. I have watched and learned and the crazy, stop everything crowd has to go. There are common sense ways to allow growth in the very very few little areas we have to allow it. No one running for office is trying to do anything else.

The only differnce is one side is lying about their opponents to scare foolish people who don't really know what is happening.

The other side is calming stating their positions and running for office in a dignified way. The stories of desperation I am hearing from the JZB run campaigns is frightening.

How can JZB and others be against lights on ball fields for our kids in the new 200 acre park?

How can they call giving a parcel of land, that is surrounded by sewer, promised sewer years ago and has a sewer pipe on the property be called "sewer extension"?

How many tens of thousands of our tax dollars were wasted by Tart, Tina and JZB on that fiasco?

That is simply a lie that the uninformed believe. I used to be one of them - no longer. I have met and watched every council member in action. No one wants over growth or to lose one inch of the rural flavor of Milton. But we can't be so foolish as to simply oppose everything.

In three years the citys only real accomplishment is a public safety department. It is a nice one at that and should be for the millions spent on all the fancy equipment.

If you have not attended a city council meeting and witnessed first hand the mindless hours and hours of dribble coming from the "oppose everything JZB" then please do not vote. JZB opposes everything. Tart does whatever JZB does and Tina does one thing one day and another the next. She flip flops more than John Kerry ever dreamed to do! I am sure she even drives JZB crazy.

I am afraid AL and Bernie will be new Tarts. Clueless to what is really happening and what it takes to run a city or a business.

We need to keep Karen and Bill and add Longoria to the mix. They are all straight shooters who think for themselves,do what they say and say what they mean!

It is too bad all politicians cannot be that way.

If they all win we'll still have to listen to JZB for two more years but I think that too will come to end. Then we can really begin to become the greatest place to live in GA.

Anonymous said...

Oh, and I trust the comments of the previous blogger, Right-OH! Drinking anyone's koolaid makes you nothing but a fool. Can't you think for yourself, who's koolaid are you drinking now, and you don't even realize it. And now the Fool is giving advice.

Anonymous said...

Bill Lusk showed dignity when he arrived over an hour late for the People's Forum. No Class, No Dignity, no respect for the citizens, which is what he does on Council. Too busy having a cocktail at Jan Jone's fundraiser, when she's running un-opposed. It was more important for him to be there instead of on time with the people in this community.

Anonymous said...

It's dribble when you are FOR Development and Sewer for the City.

Colt Whittall said...

I was also a JZB-Tart-Hewitt supporter on the last election and encouraged everyone I could to vote for that ticket. I supported them because I live in Crooked Creek and am very concerned that if we do not carefully manage the inevitable future development of the Hwy 9 and Deerfield corridors we could end up with a Forsyth-county-looking strip of gas stations and other unsightly development outside our community. My wife and I plan to stay here a long time and we want to do what we can to steer future development in a direction that enhances quality of life and long term property values in our community.

However, several things have changed my point of view on who to support for City Council, and I am now actively supporting Longoria, Thurman and Lusk.

1) The sewer battle. I do not want to see sewer extended further into Milton, even though I live in a Community with sewer, as do at about half the residents of the city (all of us in the "high density" areas along 9 and Deerfield). JZB and her allies fought to deny sewer to a property owner behind the Kroger, just off of Cogburn Road. The land is surrounded on all sides by property with sewer. JZB and her allies fought this as part of a dogmatic war against "sewer extension" and ignored practical reality. In this case the land should be developed and the owner should be paying taxes to help support the other goals of Milton, like having more parks, etc. Why not help people do quality development where it makes sense to do so? We need pragmatism.

2) Birmingham Park. We desperately need more ballparks, football fields, soccer fields, etc. Anyone in our community with young children or grandchildren knows that. So why are JZB, her allies and the Birmingham Alliance proposing to make Birmingham Park a horse trail park of some sort? Is it just because they want to keep it quiet and dark because that is what they think is in the best interest of their property values? Folks - this is by far the largest park in the area. There is room for everyone, including the active sports activities that are part of family life in Milton, and the horses. Don't get me wrong. I would love to go for a ride over there. But a few ballparks will not prevent that.

3) In the last couple of years Alpharetta actually decreased their property tax (millage) rate. How? They have smartly managed the growth and development of their city. They have a tremendous commercial tax base that subsidizes the services they need to support the residential areas of the city. Roswell, on the other hand, will probably have to increase their millage rate over the next few years (or cut services) because they have a very small commercial base relative to the number of the residents of the city. So far, Milton is travelling down the path of Roswell. As our infrastructure of roads, traffic lights, etc ages it will require more repair. To make the books balance, and to do projects like add parks and other services, we will need more revenue. We will eventually be forced to either raise taxes or cut vital services, like police and fire. Per my comments above, I want to see us work with local developers to help them do projects that are appropriately located, consistent with our architectural standards, and which contribute to our quality of life. JZB and her allies want to paint Longoria, Thurman and Lusk as pro-developer. I think they are just pragmatic and willing to work with people on both sides of this issue to get the kind of development done that we actually want and need.

I could go on for several pages but will stop here. I strongly encourage you to get out and vote for Longoria, Thurman and Lusk.

Karl Haase said...

Colt - thanks for starting what will hopefully be a trend on the message boards on this site - actually listing your name! Some of the dialogue can get a little over the top at times with anonymous postings and it really seems to take away from the "discussion".
I agree with your post regarding parks here in Milton. We really do need to focus some time/money/energy into expanding opportunities for the majority of our residents - and horse parks are certainly not for the majority! Heck - I drive past 5 horse farms a day that I see advertising the ability to come ride horses on their land! We need ball fields for the boys and girls ASAP! Even Hopewell Park funding has dried up to $0 now that Milton has taken ownership - we need to spend money on this treasured resource and more like it!
I also agree with some other posters on different threads regarding sewer expansion. I have yet to go to a meeting where a city council member was suggesting expanding the sewer down a Hopewell road or any interior portion of the city! The arguments I have been privy to revolve around areas that were previously promised sewer before Milton came into existence - and we were simply allowing that to happen now. No one would be able to get away with slapping a 5 mile sewer line into the heart of our city!!
Regarding the distain for the attacks and negative campaigning - I join you all in this sentiment - but also know that there is not an involved community in this country that doesn't experience this same colorful process come election time. Keep your heads out of the weeds and make informed choices.
Finally - I am not going to list my favorite candidates - but rather caution us all against trying to build a council that all thinks/acts/votes alike. Regardless of the label others have given this city - we are a diverse (socially, economically, and politically) group of citizenry - and we need a council that represents that as well. Vote with your head not your emotion :-)

Anonymous said...

To both above: Very well said. Thanks for the more intellectually stimulating commentary.

Anonymous said...

ditto

Anonymous said...

People the economy is dead!

Very little building will occur anywhere for the next 5-7 years. Lets elect based on today's issues.

Sewers are irrelevant to the election at hand!