Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Mayor Heiftjie on his legacy

Writing for Concentrate, Patrick Dunn has just published Part II of his exit interview with Mayor Hieftje. Here's an excerpt:

PD: One of your greatest successes was the passage of the Greenbelt millage. Why do you think the Greenbelt found such favor, especially for an unusual idea like funding land preservation outside the city?

JH: If you look back at the history of it, in the ‘90s the growth was in the townships around the city. Sprawl was just rampant, and fields that we had driven by for years were being turned into strip malls and subdivisions. It's hard to look back now, but sprawl was a major issue. And looking forward, it seems like only a matter of time to me before sprawl comes back. I think it'll be even closer into the city.

Other topics covered in the interview: the town-gown relationship in light of the Edwards Brothers Property; the pedestrian crossing ordinance and the mayoral veto; and development. It's definitely worth a read.

Image via matthewkaz

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