Check this out, I couldn’t figure out how the lawyers would have screwed up the number of signatures required to file an appeal. Well, according to the information they had and tried to confirm, they didn’t.
I’m still trying to get the details on this, but here’s my understanding of how this went.
1. Get the list of names off Legistar.
2. Confirm with the clerk’s office that you have the right list, they were told that was the “only” list.
3. Collect signatures.
Seems reasonable right? Well, apparently, there is a magical second list that the plan department has that they used instead. The clerk’s office didn’t send out the notices, the plan department did. The plan department list isn’t currently publicly available on Legistar. And has a different number of names on it. Why? Dunno.
This was the only list I found in Legistar but it is from December so I’m not sure it is the correct one that the neighbors or city is using. The list should be dated March. If you look in the conditional use file, I don’t see a new list that would have been the latest list used.
The file for the appeal is here. And it appears that they only have page 5 of the 6 page fax, and I’m now wondering if that is part of the problem. The full document is here.
Also, I see there are two “received” stamps and they had to wait for an original of a signature. Don’t know if that had anything to do with it.
Finally, all these details matter. But, if the list the plan department used is different than what is available in Legistar and the clerk’s office confirmed the wrong list and that is why the appeal is not valid – this whole thing kind of stinks. I’ll try to figure it out and let you know. For now, just know, there may be more to this story. And, please know it has nothing to do with the merits or the the issues, but its more of a paperwork snafu. I wish we were talking about the merits of the appeal instead.
