The missing link in a planned road on this city's east-side continues to elude the City Council. The divided panel again tried and failed to reach a solution Tuesday, then put it off until its next meeting in two weeks.
The council and developer Wayne Patterson are at odds in resolving the issue. Patterson has offered to give the city a right-of-way in exchange for half-acre zoning for his High Bench Ridge subdivision, but councilmembers don't want to increase the density in that part of town.The planned road would run through Patterson's property and link High Bench Road to Canyon Crest Road, giving residents another access in and out of town.
Councilwoman Phoebe Blackham said the city faced an emergency situation in getting the road. She said it was desperately needed even if the city had to buy the land. The council has mulled over several other solutions to get the right of way, from condemning Patterson's property to granting him his half-acre zone change, but no solution yet has garnered enough votes.
City Attorney David Church said if the city condemned Patterson's property it may have to pay severance damages if it left small pieces of land that could not be developed. One suggestion, that the city take the property and sell what it didn't need, raised the eyebrows of Mayor Joel Hall.
"Is the city going into the development business?" he asked.
Patterson believes he is treated differently and unfairly by the city, said Church. The developer won't come to City Council meetings, which further hinders arriving at a solution.