The windows ordinance for downtown Arkansas City was passed after months of discussion at the city commission meeting Tuesday.
The windows ordinance for the entire city was passed a few months ago, and that requires that any windows replaced must be made of glass or a transparent material. The commission decided to do a separate ordinance for downtown that used zoning to require window replacement.
The ordinance requiring glass from this point forward includes entire city as well as the downtown area. The ordinance approved last night will require that all windows be replaced with glass or a an approved transparent substance.
The ordinance passed last night requires more replacement of windows than the other one that applied to the entire city did.
The ordinance requires 10 windows be replaced the first year, 10 more the second year and all windows in three years.
The ordinance has gone to the planning commission a few times, and received final approval from that group about a week ago at a public hearing.
Building, Planning and Codes director Matt Rowland said no one spoke at the public hearing. He said the ordinance applies to street-sides of buildings and not to alleyways.
Jim Sybrant, who has opposed the ordinance from the beginning, spoke against the ordinance at the meeting.
He said the ordinance would end up devaluing property in the city.
He said if his building is worth $60,00, and it costs him $45,000 to put in new windows, he would not be able to sell his building for those two amounts combined.
He also said the city does selective enforcement of ordinances, and suggested that would also happen with this one.
The comments raised the ire of Mayor Mell Kuhn and Rowland.
“When you accuse me of being arbitrary, I totally disagree with that,” Rowland said.
Kuhn said there are a lot of variables, and he said people could make their case to the planning commission for unusual situations.
Commissioner Scott Margolius said there is always the possibility of amending the ordinance, and that happens when changes are needed.
Another building owner, Bill Segudo of Mulvane, also objected, saying the cost of fixing up the building was too great. He has owned a building in town for about two years
“From an economical standpoint, I have no intention of investing further in the town,” he said.
He said he would go from making a little profit on the building to losing a lot on the building if he had to replace windows.
“I have talked to the tennants, and they don’t seem to have a problem with it,” he said.
Commissioner Dotty Smith, who owns several properties in the city, said there is a responsibility to maintain buildings that comes with ownership.
“A building is more than ownership, they come with liablity,” Kuhn said.
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33 comments:
YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think with all the streetscape that has happened getting the buildings looking up to par will really make our downtown look very very nice!
Hey Editor, did you notice that the kid's shirt on the front page of todays (oct22, 2008) paper says "SHIT" right on the front of it?
Good editing job! LOL
Did you notice that it was edited out in the regular paper newspaper?
Thanks for paying attention.
The unedited version of the photo did get on the website though.
who gets the regular edition anymore, old people with no internet??
People like John McCain?
do not be offended by the word shit- it happens- everyone does it- why is it offensive to you- it is no more off color than the word Whiskey that is also on the shirt, i think the word poop is more distasteful than shit- ande if you do not like it dont look at it-- freedom of choice to look or not look ,, its still america here even if you are in HYpocrit city
Baraque Hussain Obama-- now there is some SH*$T
This will be the most important vote in the history of our country and will affect the entire world to a extreem degree.
I think we shall see the Biblical comming of Christ soon, the world will soon be in great turmoil as the monatary system of cash is sucked dry and we resort to the mark of the beast to trade and purchase,,, Hussain Obama has said he wants to restructure the worlds monatary system,, we are warned of this sign in the bible,, will he also broker peace and deliver Palistine as a state??? more biblical warnings that are manafesting as you read this
This will be the most important vote in the history of our country and will affect the entire world to a extreem degree.
>>>>
I guess ive just become too cynical when it comes to politics.
I really don't think it matters all that much. Which is why im advocating a third-party vote.
Im not sure about biblical prophecy coming out of this. Revelation and other biblical literature of this type is very hard to understand and easy to interpret however you like.
hmmm Im really not fitting the mold of the typical Christian right now am I?
Of course the most important part of the bible is easy to understand.
"For God so loved the world that he sent his only son so that anyone who believes in him might have eternal life."
about time sybrant got his due
Now the next step is to bring in jobs and economic development which will improve the entire town's economy and make Jim Sybrant's building worth more. It really is possible and is ironic because Jim has worked hard over many years to make that part of it happen.
The tough part is that it sometimes seems that the buildings downtown are white elephants: buildings whose upkeep expense makes them seem worthless.
Jim is right. With the windows ordinance, they are upside down. But it is the right thing to do.
Now that we've had a stock market crash, it becomes even harder to bring in new business that would improve the local economy and raise downtown property values.
Could we revisit the decision to oppose recruiting industry and what the logic is for doing that? It seems particularly important now.
It can't just be out of laziness can it?
If the town rolled up their sleeves and got with it, by the time the economy rebounded, maybe Ark City would rebound with it.
reality is Ark city is the very center of the Bible belt, and to closed minded to reach out to the outside for growth.
Expectations will never happen on the current path,this town has very good potential for a early days replica of a prairy town, the older buildings downtown could be refurbished into western saloons and finaly capitalise on the casinos south of us offering guided tours, a western style hotel on the south end of town, Raft rides down the arkansaw, horse back rides on guided western tours, antique tractor and machinery mussems.
Problem is you wont let it happen because 85% of us are so wrapped up in tring to control what others do,,, need some examples???
Another problem is the City Management, but not so great as the ones like our dear sweet Police chief, who wants the community to be like mayberry.
With any type of success and growth there are evils you must accept along the way,, Bars, Clubs, live entertainment ( non Christian related),, however if you chose to be the over zelous religious community that you want,, forget success,,, my advice,,, lossen up, let go of the raigns,, then just try to stop success and growth, you will not be able to hold it back
Sounds like the current Mayor speaking, but its not,, i am just a man who has a vision,,,,,,,,,,,
If Jims buildings are only worth $60.00,, i want to make him an offer right here,, I will pay you 2,000 for each building you own on main street,, hmm lets just make a even 10 grand for each building,, but i want them all or no deal
you can keep the junk on 1st street north of where your fathers house used to be,, those apartments and old shack are needing to be reported to code enforcement,,,
ill give $15,000 for each building and i want them all Deal or no Deal
If the town rolled up their sleeves and got with it, by the time the economy rebounded, maybe Ark City would rebound with it.
Good post.
We need to target certain industries. The industries we have cant get enough employees and the cycle continues.
some small high tech operations might be good.
the old west theme would be great and i think i twould work.
Just takes some people with vision
I think im starting to see that on the blog some.
I do take exception to the one post above that pretty much says its all religious people's fault.
It is religious people who have the vision to make things happen.
Ill take them anyday in business.
:)
If they have a Jesus Fish on their car, or business card...Run away as fast as you can!
You will be scammed!
"It is religious people who have the vision to make things happen."
What??? Okay, then I will just keep my vision to myself then since I obviously don't have one or can't make it happen. If that is the case Ark City should be drowning in vision and making things happen all over the place.
Seriously, I understand the need to defend your beliefs from random, ignorant attacks. However, your inclusion of your beliefs to the exclusion of others gets slightly tiring.
Painting people on either side religious vs. non-religous with a broad stroke is completely and utterly ridiculous.
Obstruction of progress in the name of religion should not be pandered to, however, assuming that all religious people have no vision or are obstructionists should not be condoned.
Seriously, I understand the need to defend your beliefs from random, ignorant attacks. However, your inclusion of your beliefs to the exclusion of others gets slightly tiring.
>>>
I agree with your post
i dont see how i was excluding anyone with my comment.
I was just pushing back at a bigoted comment - which wasnt yours.
"For God so loved the world that he sent his only son so that anyone who believes in him might have eternal life."
I thought that was Jor-El. Musta misread it.
I think we shall see the Biblical comming of Christ soon
----------------------
Thought that was supposed to of happen bout 8 or 9 years ago. I remember hearing Bush was supposed to be the anti-christ and now i suppose if Obama wins, people will say the same thing. Wow...seriously!!
i suppose if Obama wins, people will say the same thing. Wow...seriously!!
>>
No doubt.
Hey did you know the Mayan calendar says the world ends in the year 2012
they even have it down to the day .. august something ...
Oh my gosh...August something? Hope it isn't my birthday!
2012. Isn't that when the machines are supposed to rise up and destroy humanity?
At least the windows will be fixed before the world ends. Wouldn't want the anti-christ to be offended by our shabby main street.
I attended the meeting and enjoyed the give and take. I spoke briefly about a minor problem I had and when I came home this afternoon (Thursday) it had been resolved and I had a call from the city about it. The system does work.
spill the beans JJ what was the problem?? Kuhn Mechanical makeing over 300K from the city so far this year??
I think rick's thing was a drainage issue?
Is that correct?
I have the city's audit report, done by an independent auditing firm.
It says Kuhn made around $100,000 last year off the city, and that it was fair and above board.
So I guess he is making some money here and there, but he apparently does not get any special treatment or special pay.
It probably is fair and above board. Being the mayor and being the owner of a company that contracts work for the city to the tune of $100k just doesn't look good. In fact, it looks kinda bad.
Is it a coincidence that Judgement Day, the last day on the Mayan calender (December 21, 2012), will fall at the end of Obama's first four year term in office?
I agree that it looks VERY bad for the Mayor's company to be making so much from our tax money. Were these jobs bid on by others, and where is the paper trail? The city should go out of their way to show that no favortism existed, because it sticks of it.
I think the Halloween costume of choice for Ark City this year should be SMELLISHIS POON. Anybody know where I can get one?
Copy and paste this link to learn about the financial crisis:
http://oldbluewebdesigns.com/USSA.htm
Mell is an honest hard working business man. he does his best to create jobs and retain his employees even when the margins are slim.
It is so easy to begin launching unfounded innuendo. The bid process is out there. Mr. Kuhn is doing everything the way he done it when he was outside city hall looking in.
I suppose he could refrain from providing his services locally and allow some Wichita business to come in with their staffing then take the proceeds back to the malls and grocers in Sedgwick County.
In business, Mell takes his reputation seriously. In business Dottie Smith takes her integrity to heart. In business, Joel tries to operate with a clear conscience. In business, McDonald is an upstanding and hard working merchant. In business, Scott M is part of a team of people who treat others with the dignity and respect deserved. As a City Manager, Steve Archer works to earn respect within and without this community and carries the name of Arkansas City well as he stands before other municipal officials.
Criticize their politics if you will. Their person is intact.
Time for me to shut up on these blogs for a few weeks (months, you all vote on that).
Charles--
To be honest I appreciate your input on just about everything except for things having to do with race. When you are talking straight politics or ideas or the economy I think you are usually spot on.
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