My lessons in democracy of late
Have not been inspiring I appeared
For meetings with the Board of Zoning
Appeals three times only to learn the
Case was rescheduled a wearying tactic
Whether the delays were truly necessary
Or not is speculative but suspicious as if
Litigants were testing the resolve of
The opposition if they keep showing up
We’ll have to deal with them very like
Our complaint about loose dogs
Who had attacked Loki and me
On the street broken into a neighbor’s
Rabbit hutch killed her children’s pet
Before their eyes the case was postponed
Three times once because the dog owner’s
Lawyer was suddenly called away
To a school where her daughter
Had gotten into a fracas which
Clearly could have waited in view
Of the earlier postponements
When the BZA matter finally
Came to a hearing the appellant
Who was seeking one hundred
Twenty-nine variances before he could
Begin building seventeen townhouses
On a corner parking lot opposite what
Once was a YMCA which itself had been
Converted into a development of several
One-floor condos each quite nice without
Altering the character of the neighborhood
I’m not quite sure how much you know
About development architecture but there’s
A simple reason why all the houses in
Levittown look exactly alike—moola
Why pay for more than one plan if you
Don’t have to the developer had made
Several other projects here and about which
Sorry to say had that cookie-cutter look
Varied only in that the basic plan
Was widened shortened made taller
To maximize the number of units to sell
Understand each foot of setback can be
Quantified as dollars lost from the potential
Objecting I told the board I did not
Want to use the term Bauhaus monstrosity
But the proposal crammed too many units
Into too little space aggravating its
Miniscule turn-around area for residents
While adding to street parking
Problems already quite evident
If the city would not insist upon
Several residential single family with
Front yards and back yards the least
They could do was require fewer units
Of more appealing design to keep
With the Victorian flair of the block
They didn’t have to place multi-family
Everywhere just because the city
Wants more people to tax
No sooner than we heard the decision
That our objections were upheld by
The board talk arose of rezoning the whole
Block to be rid of all those nasty variances
Giving the developer what he wanted
Giving the neighbors a hollow victory
There are many ways ultimately
To wear down resistance
To defeat the will of the people
In a democracy
c. J.S.Manista, 2015
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