(Editor’s Note: Town Board member Rudy Rudolph has something to say about that. The most recent town meeting Building heights were a topic of discussion. Read on for his thoughts. If you have anything to say about anything related to the Old Mission Peninsula, write it down and send it to me. [email protected]. -JB)
The town hall is at it again! Those damned city officials don’t care about trampling on the rights of normal citizens! The tires! I have a good right to be upset! This is the opinion of about 30 percent of citizens Joint Planning Commission and Town Board meeting On November 14. The taunting and shouting generally disrupted the open and business-like exchange of ideas. Let me share with you what was on my mind as I watched all this.
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I can’t help but think back to the riotous scenes I used to see in those “old time” westerns. Growing up in the fifties, Saturday plays at the Viking Theater in downtown Appleton, Wisconsin were a familiar sight for us kids. You know the movie I’m talking about. You can still find them on YouTube. A free-roaming cattle baron with the unlimited freedom of the fields, a wandering lord sitting on the settlers and city dwellers trying to bring law and order to the west with power! Oh, and they bring those dang fences (read “systems” here) too!
Then you have the nefarious saloon owner who makes his living with the thirsty, sex-starved cowboys who work for Cattleman and descend on the town every day. Those skinny cows are constantly getting into trouble and maybe even involved in a brawl. It will be bad, really bad!
Well, the plot is thick. The townspeople are hired to pass some laws and hire a sheriff, usually played by someone like Gary Cooper or Gregory Peck, to bring “law and order” to the town for the good of the community. Sooner or later, the sheriff has to throw one of those cowboys in jail, or in the worst case scenario, one of Catman’s or the saloon owner’s hired guns. Cattleman and/or the saloon owner aren’t like that, so one or both of them whip up a public spectacle designed to disrupt the sheriff’s authority and “take the town.”
Yes, Pardner, in my opinion, was exactly that. There were many people before me who were told, no, by a voice or two on social media that their “rights” were being “trampled” by those vile, power-hungry, disenfranchised city officials.
And in what case did all this violation of rights take place? Well, your city planner was trying to interpret, with input from the public, at a well-publicized, transparent, public meeting, how citizens want a system that’s been on the books for decades. Does it look like kicking? true? And what was the matter? How to measure the height of residential buildings. For goodness sake!
Any quick Google search will convince you that the height of residential buildings is a formal limit set by any land use ordinance in our wonderful United States. You may wonder why this is normal. After all, it is a free country. Can’t I do what I want?
There are three reasons I think to limit the building height. First, neither pilots nor the Federal Aviation Administration like tall buildings on the way to airports. I can assure you that this is true because as a licensed pilot I don’t like getting stuck on anything in the airspace. Well, okay, that makes sense, but, hey, we’re nowhere near the old Mission Peninsula Airport here. At least not yet.
Second, people seem to want their views and rights to open space around their buildings protected. Well now, this might hit a little too close to home. Let’s say you’ve found your dream property here on the Old Mission Peninsula land development. It is one of the upper slopes with clear views of East Bay and the surrounding orchards and vineyards. It’s expensive, but the view is worth it! You invest in the lot and build your dream home.
Then someone buys the lot across the street and decides to build a really huge structure with towers and turrets that block your view. Were you upset? You bet! And you think that could never happen on Old Quest? If you do, you are a total idiot!
If there are no protective provisions, it can and – because of the economic benefits of construction and developers – will be! But that’s not the real, in fact, even the most important reason for building height limits.
In a previous life I was a rural fire district trustee in Illinois. I served on that board for 18 years, nine of which I served as board president. You may be interested to know that our county ordinance limits building heights to 35 feet, measured from the middle of the room to the midpoint of the roof. If you study ordinances across the country, you’ll find that this is the most common residential building height limit. There was, and is, a very good reason for this restriction. Our Illinois rural fire apparatus could not reach higher than 25 feet. If you wanted to get someone out of a burning building on the top floor, that would be it! There is no greater fear than being trapped in a burning building where a person cannot reach the firefighters.
Just think about it. Do you know how far your local fire extinguishers can really go? If your house is on fire and you’re trapped on the top floor, do you hope your firefighters can get to you?
Now, where we live in Illinois, it wasn’t hard to figure out how to measure the height of a building. Heck, it was flat as a pancake. We used to joke that the highest elevation in our district was the overpass on Interstate 72. But in Old Mission, we have a very dynamic location. For this reason, when building, it is very attractive to be able to use the land to gain that extra walk from the basement as a comfortable living space.
And there is where the problem comes in terms of fire safety. If the building is on fire and you can’t reach the front because of the fire, you have to attack from the back, down the slope, from the side. From that point, to that, third floor, the window outlet may be over 25 feet.
And this is why there is a legitimate public safety question not only about what limits should be placed on the height of the building, but also how to measure the height of the building on the flat land. And that’s why your planner asked the simplest question.
For those of you who presented yourself as a public spectacle on November 14th, I suggest that you could have learned to call it all yourself. Your city office To discuss why there are building height restrictions or b) to do As I did.
Instead, you chose to listen to the few people trampling on your precious “rights”, and you did just like the classic old westerns.
A good question, in my mind, is why the people who are stirring up public outrage want that horrible public spectacle to happen. Why would it benefit them if the normal, open and reasonable functioning of your city is disrupted? Are they similar to the cattle barons or saloon owners of the Old West?
I don’t know the answer to that question but it’s something I have to ponder and shame on you for letting them get to you. You are better than this!
An old man, thank you for listening.
W. William Rudolph
One of your volunteer, power-hungry city managers
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Note from Jane: I started the Old Mission newspaper in 1999. After decades of writing for newspapers like the New York Times and Los Angeles Times and magazines like Family Club and Women’s Home Journal, I wanted to write about my own community, where I grew up on a cherry farm and raised my own family. . So I started my own newspaper. Since the newsletter is primarily reader-supported, I hope you’ll consider donating a few dollars if I feature your event, business, organization, or news item, or if you just like reading about what’s going on in Old Mission. Exit the peninsula The donation page is here.. Thank you very much for your support. – JB
