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Last night the Planning Commission did the
sensible thing. They denied a request for another wine tasting bar until
there could be a community discussion about the saturation issue. It
may be appealed to the City Council but the reality is that since the General
Plan has not been approved and will not for some time (has to go back to
the Planning Commission for more public hearings on specific
"substantive" changes), the City is still governed by the 1993 GP
which states that over saturation is to be avoided. The very reason General
Plans are required by all Calif. cities is to give non-professionals the
tools to deal with contemporary planning problems. Right now we have
to make our tools as we go along. To help with that effort, check
Seth Godin's list of values from his February blog -- it applies to places
too:
"I'm an elitist -- (You might be as
well).
The market isn't always right. It's merely the
market.
Mass appeal is not always better than doing
something that matters.
Increasing shareholder value is not the primary
purpose of a corporation.
News with a lot of clicks isn't always important
news.
Selling out to get popular is selling yourself
short.
Lowering the price at the expense of
sustainability is a fool's game.
Only producing tools that don't need an
instruction manual takes power away from those prepared to learn how to use
it. And it's okay to write a book that some people won't finish, or a video
that some don't understand.
Giving people what they want isn't always what
they want.
Curators create value. We need more curators, and
not from the usual places.
Creating and reinforcing cultural standards and
institutions that elevate us is more urgent than ever.
We write history about people who were brave
enough to lead, not those that figured out how to pander to the crowd.
Elites aren't defined by birth or wealth, they are
people with a project, individuals who want to do work they believe in,
folks seeking to make an impact. Averaging down everything we do so that it
becomes cheap and ubiquitous and palatable to all is a hollow goal."
Sandy
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