Well, well. Turns out the occupancy permits the City of Aurora issued Planned Parenthood on October 2 were only temporary, and the last of the three issued expires December 17.
What will the City do? Neighborhood property owners filed an appeal moments before PP opened, which should have stopped it but didn't. Now? "It would be blatantly improper for the City to keep issuing permits while hearings are underway," Peter Breen told me, speaking on behalf of the Thomas More Society, the legal group leading the effort to shut down PP.
Meanwhile, pro-PP (or anti-discovery of incompetence) Aurora counsel Alayne Weingartz, pictured left at last night's Zoning Board of Appeals meeting, has since November 15 been admitting without fanfare that all along PP's approval process city officials were going by the wrong ordinance. She now correctly refers to ordinance 093-124 in her written documents about PP rather than the incorrect 093-123.
So what? 093-124 states the PP property is zoned BB (business boulevard), which flat out prohibits nonprofit health facilities from being built, and 093-123 doesn't.
Aurora officials have now admitted they screwed up but are still asking the Zoning Board of Appeals to dismiss the appeal, i.e., to dismiss the rights of Aurora citizens. They are also trying to argue the ZBA has no jurisdiction anyway.
As this goes on, it is becoming clear that Aurora officials, foremost Weingartz and Mayor Tom Weisner, are either grossly incompetent or covering up a scandal.
Which leads to our side's request of the ZBA for permission to issue subpoenas. Weingartz has refused to hand over relevant documents.
The ZBA slapped Weingartz at last night's ZBA meeting and ordered her to cough up several. But she's still fighting several, including emails and phone calls made to the supposed independent investigators who stated PP and its front company, Gemini Office Development, were slimy but not crooks for hiding until the last minute that the "medical building" GOD constructed was actually a PP abortion mill.
It appears by their reports that two of the investigators made their decisions based on bad information: ordinance 093-123. So our side wants to deposition those two, along with city workers, to whom Weingartz has issued a gag order, threatening our attorneys with disbarment if they try to talk to any of them.
Stay tuned until January 7, when the ZBA will decide whether it has authority to hear the appeal and whether it will allow Thomas More Society to issue subpoenas.
Also see posts by Families Against Planned Parenthood and OpenlineBlog, and an article in today's Aurora Beacon.
Comments:
"As this goes on, it is becoming clear that Aurora officials, foremost Weingartz and Mayor Tom Weisner, are either grossly incompetent or covering up a scandal."
I think they are grossly incompetent OF covering up a scandal! These people have woven up such a web of lies that they just can't seem to remember all of them!
Jill, is there a chance that PP Aurora will have to vacate again after 12/17?
ABL, lol on "grossly incompetent OF covering up a scandal!"
I really doubt it on your last question. The city has proven to be a PP ally.
Posted by: Jill Stanek at December 13, 2007 12:15 PMJill,
Thanks for your response!
Bummer, though! I was hoping for an early Christmas present!!!
So they will keep issuing them permits even though they LIED? GOD, I love living in Aurora!
Posted by: Elizabeth at December 13, 2007 12:51 PMElizabeth,
So they will keep issuing them permits even though they LIED? GOD, I love living in Aurora!
Posted by: Elizabeth at December 13, 2007 12:51 PM
It is called contempt for democracy. Only the powerful have a voice. The next thing to do is vote them out and pick someone who will follow the laws.
Posted by: hippie at December 13, 2007 12:57 PMHippie,
The powerful have a pen! Aurora RESIDENTS have the voice. If the FBI has anything to do with this, you may see a couple of Bozo's leaving office (or their appointed one) before their time is due! The circus has already begun!
yawn.
Posted by: hal at December 13, 2007 1:59 PMHal, Just keep doing that when the OP gets pulled for this bulding.
Posted by: Charles at December 13, 2007 3:42 PMCharles,
We won't care or even think about what Hal's doing then...we'll be busy thanking God & having the PARTY of our lives!!!! (which will likely include a giant baby shower for all of those beautiful, precious babies that will be saved due to the mill of horrors being CLOSED!!!)
Don't ya love it!! As usual, it looks like Jill is
doing the heavy lifting on this story.
The powerful have a pen! Aurora RESIDENTS have the voice.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Apparently, Aurora residents have voted with their feet. The clinic is doing fine.
They wouldn't have built it there unless there was a market for their services.
Just like we have protesters standing on their feet. The people who oppose abortion. Not everyone is too thrilled.
Posted by: heather at December 13, 2007 6:45 PMBTW, Laura....we didn't get a vote, nor a public hearing. Even PRO_CHOICE Aurora residents are a bit miffed at that! EVERYTHING was done under the radar. That's why there's nothing left to do here but use our voices & talented, dedicated attorneys. God bless them!
Posted by: AB Laura at December 13, 2007 7:33 PMLaura,
And, of course there's a market in Aurora...look at a map! Not only do you have PP centered in the middle of all of the large, local high schools and colleges, it's a hop, skip & jump from Rt.88, I-294, I-355, I-55...Perfect for all of those neighboring states that have parental notification laws! We never said they didn't have a "market" here in Aurora - that would have just been plain stupid!
No parental notification laws? I wonder how many minors the abortionist has molested.
Posted by: heather at December 13, 2007 8:12 PMI have said this once and will say it again: wrongly or not, Aurora cleared the location and construction of this facility. Planned Parenthood would not have built it otherwise. If Aurora turns around and denies occupancy, it seems to me that they will be liable to Planned Parenthood for all the costs involved (six or seven million dollars, if I recall correctly) PLUS damages, not to mention that the confidence future developers place in Aurora will be considerably shaken. If it comes down to this, I think that Aurora taxpayers, given a choice, would rather have a bustling, state-of-the-art health clinic for free than an empty building for several million dollars.
Posted by: Ray at December 13, 2007 8:55 PMRay,
Did you ever read what's going on with taxpayer money in Aurora...really, now...with the shodeen fiasco, 6 or 7 million is just pocket change. Our mayor doesn't mind throwing the "big bucks" around & I think he actually enjoys spending tax dollars on meaningless goals. Really...I don't think this would faze King Tom. Now pride...that's just priceless to him!
I have to agree with Ray when he says that Aurora officials probably knew all along what was going on. However, that being said there is no justification for them having circumvented the normal process for public input that the BB zoning mandates. They find themselves in a bit of a jam having been found to have permitted this undertaking to proceed in violation of their own rules and ordinances. What to do?
All we are asking for is for the city to follow their own laws. Even proponents of the PP facility would probably have to grudgingly admit that had the project run up against the kind of opposition we have seen the past few months and was exposed to be in direct violation of the zoning regulations the likelihood of the project ever coming to fruition would be, well, nil.
In order to come clean the city should admit their wrongdoing. At least at this point the officials have not yet lied under oath. They can then negotiate an accord with PP, even if it costs the city millions. Pro-lifers are taxpayers too, and if it means shutting the PP facility down this is one instance where we probably could live with a governmental boondoggle.
Posted by: Jerry Nickels at December 13, 2007 11:15 PM
Ray,
It'd be cool with me if that building were empty personally. It would be EVEN cooler if they offered COMPLETE health-care services..you know the services for those poor,pregnant moms..like prenatal visits, vitamins, ultrasounds, etc. Oh WAIT, they don't offer any of that. So much for caring about women.
Posted by: Elizabeth at December 13, 2007 11:27 PMBoo. I'm so over Aurora.
Posted by: prettyinpink at December 13, 2007 11:44 PMThey wouldn't have built it there unless there was a market for their services.
Posted by: Laura at December 13, 2007 6:24 PM
There is a market in aurora for illegal drugs and prostitution. That does not mean that the public should allow for a not-for-profit to oblige them.
Ray,
Planned Parenthood cannot claim that it acted in "good faith" in reliance on any
mistake by the City when its own deeds spelled out the laws that bound it, as they
bind every other citizen of Aurora. Any liability for the myriad zoning violations in
this matter fall squarely on the shoulders of Planned Parenthood. The City should
immediately enforce the applicable zoning ordinance, O93-124, against the subject
property.
Sad, I guess it's true. Women in Aurora want dead babies. That's what they'll get.
Posted by: heather at December 14, 2007 8:44 AMThere is a market in aurora for illegal drugs and prostitution. That does not mean that the public should allow for a not-for-profit to oblige them.
Posted by: Charles at December 14, 2007 7:27 AM
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nobody's committing a crime at the Aurora clinic. They're providing a perfectly lawful service to women who are more than happy to pay for the privledge.
Are you a Socialist?
Do you have a problem with Freemarket Capitalism?
Nobody's committing a crime at the Aurora clinic.
By the building's very existance, in a B-B district, every procedure is being done against the law.
And, yes, I am a Freemarket Capitalist--but only when it's LEGAL.
Posted by: Charles at December 14, 2007 10:12 AMIf you take at the documents and appeals which have been released, it is evident that the deed for the property procludes the building of a not-for-profit health facility on that land. Therefore, the property owners were the primary violators of zoning in Aurora. The City has played games on this, perhaps for personal or percieved political profit, but it is the owners of the land who are responisible for the skirting of the ordinances. The City shouldn't have to pay them anything --- PP can not profit from their violations on this. The building will have to be torn down and the lot sold as vacant land.
It will take some time, but if you read the documentation, it seems quite clear. Check out the motion for subpoena http://fvfapp.org/docs/FVFAPPMotion121207.pdf
Our attornies are excellent and the appellants are solid in this fight.
Posted by: LB at December 14, 2007 8:17 PMNobody's committing a crime at the Aurora clinic. They're providing a perfectly lawful service to women who are more than happy to pay for the privledge.
Are you a Socialist?
Do you have a problem with Freemarket Capitalism?
Posted by: Laura at December 14, 2007 9:24 AM-------------------------------------------------------------- Killing your baby is a privilege? Why do some women say that abortion is not an easy choice?
Posted by: heather at December 16, 2007 10:06 AMWhy do some women say that abortion is not an easy choice?
Heather, nobody is saying that it's always an easy choice. Good grief - of course it can be a very hard choice, sometimes, just as continuing a pregnancy can be. If the desire is right about 50/50 each way, the decision can be quite hard.
doug, care to explain why?
Posted by: heather at December 16, 2007 9:59 PMSure, Heather - the desires to continue and end the pregnancy may be just about equal, thus a hard choice.
Posted by: Doug at December 16, 2007 10:55 PMDoug, why is abortion a difficult choice to make?
Posted by: heather at December 16, 2007 11:03 PMIt's difficult for some people because there is also some desire to continue the pregenancy, just as continuing a pregnancy can be a hard choice to make since there may also be desire to end it.
The more the desires tend toward equality, the tougher the decision.
Posted by: Doug at December 17, 2007 10:04 AM