The City of Richardson's zoning ordinances allow for special use permits for smoking establishments after ensuring "safeguards as are necessary to protect adjoining property, as well as the public health, safety, morals and general welfare." A Richardson restaurant owner applied for a special use permit. His application was considered by the City Plan Commission, where it was approved 5-2 and will be considered next by the City Council. I want to examine those two negative votes more closely.
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| From 2022 07 03 Amsterdam |
Today's photo-of-the-day shows the Basilica of Saint Nicholas in Amsterdam. But the real focus is on the bicycles. Amsterdam is a city of bikes. And canals, of course, but it was the bikes that surprised us. They are everywhere. They are used not just for exercising, but for commuting to work and school and shopping and dining. Central city pedestrians (like us) learn quickly to look left and right first for bicycles, then for street cars, finally for the real cars. What looks chaotic at first quickly settles into a natural rhythm. Amsterdam turned out to be our favorite city.
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| From 2022 07 03 Amsterdam |
Today's photo-of-the-day is of the Sea Palace Chinese Restaurant. Where is it? The water the restaurant is floating on is a clue. A bigger clue is the Basilica of Saint Nicholas in the background. Surprisingly, it's in Amsterdam, Netherlands.European tours are sometimes described as ABC tours — "Another Bloody Church". We got some of that. We also got the variant ABC Tour — "Another Bloody Castle". Prepare yourself. Our next photo-of-the-day selections will be up the Rhine River from the sea to the Main River and then down the Danube River. First stop, Amsterdam.
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From Dance Dance Dance, by Haruki Murakami:
"The hotel should never have been built where it was. That was the first mistake, and everything got worse from there. Like a button on a shirt buttoned wrong, every attempt to correct things led to yet another fine—not to say elegant—mess." |
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Book Review: Dance Dance Dance: 1988 novel with Haruki Murakami's signature touch of magical realism. This sequel to "A Wild Sheep Chase" is even better. A Japanese writer goes through an early midlife crisis as people around him disappear. What's real? What's imagination? B+
After the jump, my full review.
The City of Richardson is likely to adopt short-term rental (STR) regulations. Richardson is not the first city to try this. It won't be the last. There is a legal thicket surrounding cities' attempts to adopt STR ordinances. Several key cases are still working their way through the courts and haven't yet reached a final judgment. Courts have looked more favorably on reasonable regulation than outright bans. So, rather than risk having more aggressive regulation tested in court, Richardson's regulations are geared to trying to control the nuisances (noise, parking, trash) that STRs bring to neighborhoods.
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| Rotten Tomatoes |
Source: Movie Photo, Everett Collection.
The Richardson City Council reviewed a possible ordinance regulating short-term rentals (STRs). This is in response to a public outcry over an out-of-control explosion in the number of short-term rentals in the City of Richardson, accompanied by an enormous number of nuisance violations (noise, parking, trash). (The police chief was on hand to define "out of control" and "enormous": he said that the police receive "a handful" of complaints each year.) But the public wants short-term rentals banned, so the City Council has to do *something*. So they shall.
