Board, "You didn't deliver." On May 31, I attended the Neighborhood Design Review meeting and was stunned as a CVS representative responded to a question regarding CVS' unwillingness to compromise on their plans for an oversized, unattractive, and unfriendly to the neighborhood and pedestrians drugstore by stating to our Association Board of Directors, "You didn't deliver," implying that our board or someone on our board had created a perception that our board would deliver the support of the North Shore Neighborhood Association membership for this project. In dispute was a letter written by our board to the planning commission not objecting to the CVS plan as long as the building and parking area did not exceed the neighborhood plan's requirement of not more than 150 feet encroachment into the neighborhood. CVS reps made it clear that they had expected an additional supportive statement. Another CVS representative stated that on four occasions, CVS attempted to schedule a presentation for the general membership of the association and that they were denied the opportunity, which has resulted in concerned members and residents scrambling to gather information and participate in the process prior to already scheduled hearings on the matter that could result in the approval of a plan that will impact the neighborhood negatively. Mr. Lassiter's, a board member's, response to CVS clarifying our board's role was very appropriate, but his explanation for the denial of an opportunity for the general membership to hear CVS' presentation was lame. I personally spoke to 8 members of our board yesterday, and those conversations in conjunction with attending the meeting last evening have prompted me to encourage all members of the association to GET INVOLVED and don't assume that our board is acting in our best interests. Our board is composed of bright, good, decent, hard-working individuals, but there are clearly internal problems that must be addressed by the board and by the membership. The positive result of our board's problems is that a group of activists came forward and did the work to call a special meeting of the general membership. Watch for notices of that meeting and attend!
By Susan Rebillot
By Susan Rebillot
