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candointhewayofattachedadditions.Andexcept for a secondresidenceofrelatively <br />smallsize,youcan'tbuildthat'snotattachedtotheexistingbuilding,i.e., a shop <br />anything <br />orgreenhouse.Ofcourse,thequestiononlydealswithrenovations andadd-ons.If <br />"addition"wereused,somepeopleprobablywouldn’tseethedistinctionbetweenattached <br />anddetached additionstotheirlivingspace,asin,‘Iwanttoadd a greenhouse’.Ofcourse <br />plannersseethedistinction,butyou'renottalkingtoplannershere.Onecouldsaythatthe <br />questioniscarefullyphrasedinordertomaketheanswercorrectandmakeeverything <br />seemmoreacceptable. <br />Atticrenovationsarepresumablyout,astheywouldexpandthesquarefootage(ofliving <br />space)bymorethan30%.Itdependsonwhatismeant by"squarefootageonthe <br />developmentsite".Sothatisunclear. <br />Thepointisthatwhilepeoplemaysimpleanswers,youshouldn'tgiveorimplyone <br />want <br />thatisn'tthere.Noteverythingissimple,andintheCode,andtheZonerules,almost <br />nothingissimple. I understandtheplannersdesiretoprovidesimpleanswers,andthe <br />additionaltextgivethevariouslimits(with a littleuncertainty). But avoidthe <br />does <br />impliedsimplicityof a "yes"attheoutset. <br />There are otheranswersthatfacethesamesortofprobleminthisandsimilardocuments: <br />givinganinitialanswer(inboldorotherwise)thatcansatisfybut notbeaccurate;and <br />creatingbiasattheoutset.Plannersandothersshouldn'tgetdefensiveaboutthat.The <br />taskistomakepeopleunderstand,andiftheanswerisn’tsimple,it’srequires a more <br />detailedexplanation. <br />LessonsTo Be Learned <br />What are thelessonsfromthesethreeexamples?Tellthetruthandthewholetruth.Avoid <br />indifferenceandcarelessness.Counterself-deceptionbypayingattention(notjust <br />“listening”)topeoplewithotherviewpoints:theymayberight.Don’tsimplifyjustto <br />satisfyortogetconsent. <br />Engagement <br />WhatabouttheCity’s“engagementprocess”? I havechosenwhat I seeas a striking <br />exampleoffailurewhichtheCityPlanningDepartmentchosetomakesomethingof a <br />“visualcenterpiece”.Thepicturesgivenbelowweretakenfromthe“old”website(last <br />year);oneisstillonthe“new”websitein a differentrole;andsomealsomadean <br />appearanceattheCouncilWorkSessionpresentationonOctober21,2015. <br /> <br />