Bemidji Joint Planning Commission

We endured a couple hours of a marathon public hearing of the Bemidji Joint Planning Commission last week. Our interest was in the variances that were passed to enable the event center development, but alas, they outlasted us. We had other pressing concerns, including a need to get to bed before midnight on a weeknight.

This organization is obviously vested in the interests of the wealthy power brokers of this city. A case in point:

A woman in her 80's would like to build an addition to her house so that she can have her bedroom and laundry on the main floor. She lives alone. What would seem like a no-brainer turned into a half hour discussion on how many hoops we can get this old lady to jump through before we let her have her addition. Of concern to at least two representatives of First Lutheran was a garage that apparently offends the eyes of some of the people who attend the hideous gargantuan church, next door. Also, there is an antique car in her yard that hasn't moved since 1948. Greg Negard, our new city councilor, made a motion to allow the addition, AFTER the garage was fixed and the car moved. Eventually, it was amended to allow all three actions to transpire simultaneously.

We had to drive by and look at this property after we had invested so much time in it. The garage is really a picturesque building. The weathered patina of the wood siding could not be matched for beauty by anything you will find at Home Depot. The roof is a little saggy, but it is not falling apart. The old automobile is also one of the most interesting artifacts in the neighborhood. In fact, it could be a tourist attraction... Come see the automobile that has not moved since 1948!

Apparently, for some perverse reason, the concept of an automobile that doesn't move is offensive to some people! I wish none of them moved! They are certainly less offensive to me when they aren't polluting, making noise, and threatening the lives of innocent pedestrians and bicyclists on the roadways.

I wonder how many hoops First Lutheran had to jump through before it was allowed to completely dominate the neighborhood with their monsterous building addition. This poor old lady doesn't see the sun from October through February because of this huge brick building on the south side of her house. The least hoop that should have been prescribed was for the church to provide its closest neighbor with full-spectrum lighting systems for every room in her house and some beautiful artwork to take the place of the view that was usurped. If that was not a stipulation for their variance, perhaps the church could compensate the lady by remodeling her garage, not that it really needs anything.

I wonder how much of the foot dragging on the part of the commission was inspired by complaints from the church leadership. Perhaps they should heed the sage advice, "If thy eye offends thee, pluck it out." My interpretation is that we should focus on the spiritual, not the material world. Funny that this lesson has escaped the Lutheran purview.