[Summit] Comp plan proposal -- what do you think

[Mark Binder]

I’m going to say a few things nobody else will.

We like our neighborhood the way it is. 
If they could build apartments on top of Apsara and Hope Street pizza without disrupting our daily routine, we’d all be for it. 

Also, if every neighborhood has low income housing, then there aren’t any upper income neighborhoods. Right?
I know, it’s not a real PC thing to point out.

Also, the basic purpose of government (our government. Most governments) is to preserve property rights. This means that property owners tend to make the rules.

Next
Current real estate practices focus on maximizing revenue for landlords. Land “value” is based on resale or rental income. If you have low rental income, then the value of the land is low. Which is why there are empty office buildings. Because if the landlord rents them at a lower value, their property loses value.

The “solution” for landlords/property owners is to get tax breaks and incentives. The whole University Heights project was a result of something like this. But 20 years later, all the units have timed out of the low income requirement are now being rented at “market value.”

Developers will always try to get the maximum benefit for themselves. Which we pay. Feh.

I’ve always thought that empty, unused, or abandoned property should have its taxes raised over time. 

Think this through with me. Empty property year one. Tax rate remains the same, or maybe even drops a little. But year two, it goes up. And every six months after.

Because we need low income housing, and at some point there will be an equilibrium where landlords will rent.

Yes to intensive development on North Main Street. It could be more like Commonwealth Ave… 

That’s it for now.


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Mark Binder • author • storyteller • nice guy
Original and traditional folk tales
Stories from Izzy Abrahmson’s Village Life
and Autobiographical Lies

markbinderbooks.com

Mark Binder  |   P.O. Box 2462   |    Providence, RI 02906    |    USA    |   +1.401.272-8707


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