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fundamental substantive changes made by the Standards Committee to the Proposed <br />Draft that were rejected by the HPC. Chief among these were: <br />1. Defining the impact of the LHD to make it clear it did not apply to changes <br />which were not significant enough to require a building permit; <br />2. Defining the impact of the LHD restrictions to include only those changes <br />and/or improvements visible from the street and trees in front yards, parks and <br />tree lawns; <br />3. Making it clear that those items labeled "Recommended" and "Not <br />Recommended" were truly recommendations, rather than a second tier of <br />requirements and prohibitions, less strictly enforced. <br />The first two of the above items were both efforts to make the document truly say what <br />those in the district were specifically told it said. In its original draft, and now in its <br />current draft, it does not. The representations made in promoting the passage of the <br />Ordinance creating the LHD are now shown to have been gross misrepresentations that, <br />despite being challenged at the time, have never been acknowledged or corrected. <br />Early in the last meeting between the HPC Committee as a Whole and the Standards <br />Committee, we were told that now was not the time to make substantive changes in the <br />guidelines, as this would create an inconsistency with those in other districts. We were <br />told that it would be more appropriate to address these changes during our two year <br />review, when the changes could be made to all districts together. Later in that same <br />meeting, when pressed to explain this process further, the HPC staff admitted that all of <br />the districts' documents would NOT be up for amendment in two years, and that review <br />of them is intentionally staggered. <br />This means that contrary to the efforts by the HPC staff to make living with the status <br />quo for two years sound reasonable, there really WAS no reason for us to wait to make <br />substantive changes: we would always be in the position of being the first to make the <br />change. I cite this as only one example to show how intentionally misleading the process <br />has been at times, and to illustrate the resistance faced by the Standards Committee that <br />has had such a negative impact on the level of trust between some of its members and the <br />HPC. <br />I submit these comments and concerns in good faith, as a property owner in the district. <br />Daniel J. Slattery <br />754 Leland Ave. <br />South Bend, IN 46616 <br />(574)234-3310 <br />