Avoiding a Bum’s Rush!

We’ve all heard the saying, ‘If it is too good to be true, it probably is’, yet, how often do people fall for tall tales? On Thursday, September 5th, residents and business owners in Lee’s Summit, MO have an opportunity to prove they are not among the victims of the tallest of tales.

As the guardians and defenders of residents’ liberty at the local level, let’s hope the city council will allow residents to speak out to protect their property rights, financial security, and quality of life from being hijacked by a clandestine agenda. Residents and business owners should not be given a bum’s rush, in a rush to deploy an apparently covert, sustainable development agenda. It is natural for people to welcome ‘supposed’ improvements within their community, but one group’s benefit can be another group’s bane. Doesn’t it make sense to verify all aspects of a proposed improvement before taking an irreversible leap, based upon comments and assurances made by those who may be playing upon the naiveté of the residents and business owners, when promoting certain ‘improvements’?

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Across the country, government at every level is deploying a sustainable development agenda. In many cases, the Federal government comes bearing ‘gifts’ of Federal taxpayers’ money, but, nothing is free. There are always strings attached with the ‘gifts’. Three agencies act in concert to deploy sustainable development. When a city, county, or state accepts a gift from one agency, there is an understanding that the other two agencies are part of the deal. When bearing gifts, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the agency on Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the Department of Transportation (DOT) have more in common with King Herod than with the three Wise Men. They have mastered the deployment of political bribery. Does this give you goose bumps, or make the hair on your neck stand on end? It should! One of the challenges with understanding what the consequences of the ‘supposed’ improvements embedded within the M-150 Corridor Development Overlay (CDO) is the purposefully neutral, ambiguous, even disarming, wording deployed to conceal the ulterior goals of the CDO, and its MASTER Plan, the M-150 Sustainable Corridor Vision and Framework Plan (M-150 Corridor Plan). ‘Code’ words associated with ‘sustainable development’ include, but are not limited to, economy, environment, equity, low impact development, habitat conservation and restoration, native vegetation, open spaces, density, wetlands, common open space, and mixed-use. These words are not used by happenstance; there is a specific reason behind the use of these words. As indicated above, a second challenge that residents encounter with the ‘supposed’ improvements of these initiatives is that there are multiple documents a resident or business owner must research, in an attempt to identify the ultimate goals of these initiatives. The CDO is fifty-five (55) pages, and the M-150 Corridor Plan is fifty-nine (59) pages. Additionally, all of the players within this saga must be identified. The Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) is a non-government organization (NGO) that acts as a conduit for taxpayer-funded grants and the agencies within the Federal government that have established a regulatory beachhead within many communities throughout the metro, and surrounding areas. Public/Private partnerships are forged with the goal of imposing an unconstitutional agenda upon uninformed and distracted citizens. The above steps probably are daunting to the busy, and average, resident and business owner. This, too, is by design, and failure to undertake due diligence is akin to surrendering one’s freedoms to the city and Federal government. Not only do residents need to be armed with questions, but with subsequent questions, to prevent the bum’s rush. For example, if a resident asks if he/she can build a building on his/her property, the knee-jerk response by those on the city council will be to say ‘yes’. The follow-up question should be, ‘What new hoops will I need to jump through to do so’? See if they know how restrictive the new hoops will be, and see if they attempt to brush off the resident. Page 2 of the CDO, Section 5.235.A: CDO Zoning Districts, Subsection 0, and Section 6.480: M-150 Corridor Overlay District Development Standards (Page 13), including Section 6.480.C: Sustainability, Subsection 5: Substitution for Development Standards (Page 50) offer insights into invisible handcuffs and the erosion of personal property rights to be ushered in with the deployment of the CDO Zone. Have you ever had a challenge finding a place to park at a busy medical office? If you are a doctor, why would ‘improved’ zoning reduce the number of parking spaces by 60% from existing zoning requirements for your practice? What is the motive for this drastic reduction in available parking spaces? If you are a homeowner, are you comfortable with restrictions to landscaped area on your property? If you own larger parcels of land, are you comfortable with the restriction of subdividing your property to avoid being forced into mixed use of your property? Again, what are the motives for these restrictions? Are the restrictions covert attempts to undermine the benefits of property ownership, while a property owner of record continues to pay property taxes? Of course, when those in ‘authority’ are questioned by their ‘subjects’, and they are confronted by inconvenient facts, the reflexive response is to attack. As a resident or a business owner in Lee’s Summit, you not only have a right, but you have a responsibility to protect your freedoms, and the freedoms of your children, or your customers, against bad and abusive government. The clock is ticking. Don’t settle for a bum’s rush!