Voting Records
Looking at 2020 BOMA minutes
In the last 6-8 years, 5300 units in the city of White House have been approved. It gets somewhat confusing since some of the zoning was on the books from before the last housing crash in 2008. In this article, only the votes on the zoning changes will be brought forward.
May of 2020- NCRPUD rezoning for more town homes and apartment
July of 2020- Adding Legacy Farms to Pinson Road
August of 2020- Another SRPUD- This appears to be Dorris Meadows on Tyree
In August of 2020, the board had a discussion about hearing from citizens. They stated that only 3 people had come to one of the previous meetings. It was August of 2020, many people were still not leaving their homes. Here is what that administration thought of listening to the people at meetings.
In September of 2020 it was voted upon. They voted to leave out quarterly public comments. That information is in another Substack.
December 2020
This is just a snapshot of what was going on in 2020 while people were “holed” up at home. The conversation about people not showing up to meetings, happened during Covid, very disingenuous. There is another year of voting records that look just like this. Your BOMA voting yes on every new SRPUD or NCRPUD with one lone voice saying no.
What is missing from all of these votes and all of these minutes is what is really important here. How many phone calls did any of these alderman receive? How many emails? Never once in any of the minutes was there mention of what the citizens thought about any of this. In fact, when they were discussing the citizens, it seemed they didn’t want to hear from them in public at all.
Going forward to 2021 when the Jackson Farms subdivision was approved on Bill Moss and Calista, I know for a fact the aldermen received emails and phone calls. There were people that showed up to meetings and packed the room. None of that was reflected in the minutes or the vote.
As you get ready to vote in November, keep these items in mind. If you have questions about any other items in the last few years, send me an email. I have planning minutes and BOMA minutes for several years. I will be glad to answer any questions that I can. I stopped after just a few of these since there are so many and this article was already getting long.
NCRPUD-Neighborhood Center Residential Planned Urban Development SRPUD-Suburban Residential Planned Unit Development
If you find this information useful feel free to send me a cup of coffee through Venmo. @Nicole-Taylor-262
I’m not sure why they would give access to comment on agenda items to those that live outside of the city, unless we are talking about those on Calista and those large communities considered “county”? I never did understand why we wouldn’t annex those folks, unless it’s a sewer and water issue. I would like to know if they ever plan to do so. Poplar Ridge is another large neighborhood that would fit that category. Regardless, seems to me they could find a way for citizens to have a way to communicate since it’s almost impossible to reach and be HEARD by some aldermen. I’ve have numerous conversations with mine regarding a left turn signal at WHHS, and last I attempted to contact mine there was no email available. That shouldn’t even happen.
Maybe written format would be better, rather than giving speaking access since I do understand the concern of becoming Hip White House. That concern shouldn’t silence citizens, there should be a way to provide it in spite of their concerns. Seems a little heavy handed.
As far as meetings, some of the meetings I attempted to attend, we we herded in to the auditorium with little chance to speak. You could hear the speakers but you couldn’t hear the board because of the mic situation, maybe it was the other way around, regardless, it was one sided. Needless to say I stopped going. I was working full time and watching grand babies on my off time, I wasn’t going to sit in an auditorium and not be seen or heard.
As a side note it was asked (also while I attended the meetings that were permitted in) what they would do with the population growth with schools, and it was mentioned by one alderman that it wasn’t their concern, it was a county issue, or that there was good home schooling programs if they felt it was too full and the county wasn’t responding. I found that very offensive and I don’t even have children in school.
I am sure these folks have had their hands full these last few years, and I appreciate their efforts, I suspect their jobs are not easy. Let’s hope and pray the right people are in the right places this coming term so that we can continue to grow smart and benefit our community.
Thanks for all you do Nikki! This is good information to have.
Regarding new property developments and the importance of upcoming elections, I'd like to comment on my own experience with the recent North Palmers Chappel development. (Feel free to share.)
When it was proposed, I was one of the citizens packed in at all of the planning commission meetings. I was also writing to the BOMA and in direct contact with my alderman (ward 2/Decker - who assured me that he would never vote in favor of the rezoning.). In the end, the planning commission voted unamiously against rezoning for the development. The normal process was that only if a development was approved by the planning commision, did it go to the BOMA to be voted upon. However, at the subsequent BOMA meeting, despite the planning commission's vote , it was passed unamously. I never saw any public notice that this was going before the BOMA.
As I see it, the WH Master plan meant nothing. The opposition of the impacted neighbors meant nothing. The decision of the planning commission meant nothing. The impact on the Greenway didn't matter.
In the end, the developer got what he wanted. Politics as usual, in White House.