Government Oversite

Welcome to the Rochester City Council meeting from 6/5/12. The Council has asked for public input on Rochester joining the "Granite State Future Agreement" also known as the "Sustainable Communities Initiative" The Sustainable Communities Initiative (SCI) is a federal partnership program between HUD, the DOT and the EPA. The program, which is being implemented all across America, might enable any one of these agencies to mandate changes to a town's local land use planning and zoning ordinances, some of the terms of the SCI agreement appear to be eerily similar to what has happened in Westchester County, NY -- which was unjustly sued and subsequently pressured into a $51.6M settlement. Opponents are concerned that towns do not understand the consequences when signing onto this "legally binding Agreement" The Grant program is using the Fair Housing Act and Civil Rights legislation to incorporate "Social Equity and Environmental Justice into town and city planning and zoning.