Feb.8, 2022- Joint Planning/Council Meeting
The Venice Planning Commission held a joint meeting with the Venice City Council at the Nokomis Avenue Community Center. Approximately 100 members of the public showed up but were allowed very little time to talk at the end of a long meeting. Mr.Snyder of the planning board gave 2 extensive presentations in which he advised an increase of the building heights downtown. He conceded that there had been recent public outcry against this measure, but stated that it’s a complicated issue that the public doesn’t understand.
Mr.Snyder gave several examples of larger buildings around the downtown that exceed the typical 1- and 2-story buildings as justification that future buildings should be taller. He failed to point out these exceptions are on quite large lots, and were often built to stand out as city landmarks.
Mayor Feinsod’s questions of “Why? What is the reason to increase the building heights?” went unanswered by Mr.Snyder. Perhaps the answer is beyond the public’s intelligence, or perhaps Mr.Snyder’s ego won’t let him compromise his vision for our city.