Quote:
Originally Posted by LMich
Quoted for truth, and this is true of how the process works in most cities with few exceptions. I'm also confused by this bizarre tone that somehow local government oversight is some kind of intrusion into the divine right of developers. Local government is the process, at least in theory. In practice, it is rare that a developer doesn't get most of what they want. This idea of poor, embattled developers doesn't hold weight in what I've experienced.
|
You've obviously never dealt with the machine here in Chicago. I have. Just the other day I went into an alderman's office (with my clouted zoning attorney in tow, there is no way I would have gotten the meeting without him) and asked for a simple zoning change to two city lots that were residential zoning surrounded by a sea of business zoning. Seems like a completely logical request and, you are right, the alderman basically gave Mr. Evil Developer (me) the support a requested. But what is actually said is not what bothers me, it is the implicit requests. For example, the meeting ended with him saying "you are going to use all XXXXXminority (not going to give the race here so as to stay as anon as possible) contractors right?" and of course I had to say "of course, I've got a guy who knows every MBE contractor in the city" and he then essentially implied that my atty would know "the best" contractors to use.
Now that sounds harmless enough, but "the best" really means "the contractors who support me". Of course I am in no way obligated to actually use those contractors, but the implication is that, if I want his support on anything else in the future, I had better use the preferred contractors. There was nothing "illegal" about anything that was said, but the clout was still used to funnel business to certain groups. This is how virtually EVERY alderman in the city of Chicago works. And, perhaps you don't understand the system here, but there is no real "planning body". The decisions are not made based upon "is this a rational place to change zoning?", but rather "do I like this guy and does he support me?". All zoning in Chicago is controlled by the aldermen and it is a fundamental cause of the clout culture here.
The best part is, I wouldn't even have gotten a meeting with this guy if it weren't for my attorney. As if there weren't enough, I am not even worried about this post identifying me because I am sure this exact same scenario has played out for 100 different developers in the past two weeks alone.