[Visiteur]

Here's what doesn't make sense to me about Tomlan's logic. The woman wants a 60-foot height limit, but also doesn't want to see heavy development spread from the current midrises in Collegetown. And she wants the moratorium extended four months.

First of all, she's lucky she's not doing this for a business, otherwise she'd be fired for failing to finish a project in time. When you were supposed to come ot a decision in one year, and you ask for a four-month extension, then you aren't doing your job well enough.

Secondly, being an elected official, she has to be aware of our voters' concerns. So tell me, what would be preferable: the few lesser-developed parcels in inner Collegetown being redeveloped, or seeing develop enroach down the street, replacing the "historic: houses with more midrise apartments? If residents are so concerned about development, they'd let developers have a little more freedom to develop the parcels in the heavily utilized areas, rather than force them down College and Eddy Streets and further into the old housing stock. Watch the remaining voters give her the boot as more houses become student-occupied (what other option will they have? Cornell only continues to add to its academic population, and students prefer to live close by).

She's obviously proving herself to be anti-business, anti-development. Too bad it can't stay that way forever; The Stewart Avenue corridor has fewer desirable parcels of land, and they're bordered to the north by a historic district (Cornell Heights), so develop is nearly null in that neighborhood. Since the student population continues to grow, and students prefer to live close by, my bet is that she'll be voted out if she can't make a compromise here on development.