Waller on Swede Hill case postponed

Despite urging from the neighborhood to proceed, City Council granted a developer’s request to postpone the Waller on Swede Hill rezoning case. Louisa Brinsmade, secretary of the Swede Hill Neighborhood Association, asked Council to either move forward or hear it at next week’s meeting. She said Council has been dealing with the case since August 2013, and that it has seen “multiple delays and postponements” during that time. Peter Cesaro, representing developer Wes Peoples, explained that his client is working to address the concerns of the neighborhood, and needed to postpone to continue that. He suggested postponing the case to September 10. Though the meeting is not currently scheduled, Council Member Greg Casar suggested the case could move to the May 28 meeting, since next week’s Council meeting is not a zoning meeting and September is months away. There was a push from some Council members not to postpone the case at all, despite it being the first postponement request from Peoples. Mayor Steve Adler pointed out that Council members should be clear that they would not be granting one postponement to each side without question, as had been the practice of previous City Councils. They did not clarify their position, but did vote to postpone the case to the May 28 meeting.