To the editor:

Forty-plus concerned citizens went to the Board of Zoning Appeals meeting Oct. 3, but they were not allowed to speak. These good citizens went to voice their concern about the lack of public input on the recently approved development for Meadowbrook Apartments at 15th Street and Crestline Drive.

This development was passed through by the city planning staff, reviewed by the city attorney and was approved by the city planning commission based on a 1973 development plan that the city of Lawrence cannot find documentation was ever approved.

Despite the murky status of this 30-year-old development plan, the project was approved without a public meeting. A lot has changed in 30 years. There were several junctures in this approval process where the planning staff, the city attorney, or the planning commission could have made a choice to allow the public to be heard. Instead, these commissions made a deliberate decisions that excluded the public from the process.

Beyond the fact that the rationale for excluding the public was based upon the use of the questionable 1973 development plan, there were other inconsistencies in the normal city review process. Taken together, these could have, should have, allowed any of these individuals and commissions the justification to at least err on the side of the public they are tasked to serve. The citizens went to the BZA meeting to be heard in a free and open forum where their concerns could be considered by the government officials elected to steward our community.

However, they were silenced.

Mark Stone,

Lawrence