Sometimes I wonder whether members of city counsels (not just ours, but most city's) think that being elected means that they just got a chance to play a real life version of Sim City.  For those who aren't familiar with it, Sim City is a game franchise (which has been around a very long time) that allows the player to build a city over time.  During the game progression, as you make decisions about where to build roads, how to tax people, etc., the game runs a simulation where businesses come and go, people build homes or neighborhoods turn to slums, and you see the fruits of your labor.  The amount of power that you, as the virtual city planner, wield is rather incredible.

Yet even in that game, a virtual city planner can't tell a specific business that bought property in a commercial zone that they can't operate their business.  Yet Wauwatosa is looking to do this very thing to Dave & Buster's.  They are citing concerns over traffic and safety, despite the fact that our very own Police Chief gave the green light after visiting other Dave & Buster's locations.  The current proposed spot is where the Ewald Car dealership used to be on Hwy. 100.

“I just don’t know that it fits right there,” Alderwoman Linda Nikcevich said, citing concerns about the location of the proposed restaurant, which would open just south of Walgreens.

Apparently the City Council would rather see a blighted empty lot with grass growing through the cracks rather than a thriving business, providing jobs, entertainment and tax revenue to the city.  Dave & Buster's has already accommodated many concerns from the city, including it's hours of operation and the minimum age of entry without supervision.  Unlike Mo's, which has caused some problems with neighbors, Dave & Buster's won't be located right next door to any homes.  The owner of Bigg's Roadhouse has said:

Pagoudis questioned whether the area needs “an establishment with 32,000 square feet of booze and arcade games.”

Bigg's Roadhouse of course just happens to be right across the street from the proposed new location.  It sounds more like he'd like the city council to stop other businesses from competing with him.  But it is not the job of the city council to create a protectionist racket for businesses.  And as the Police Chief said:

“If we’re afraid of a business because it might attract young people, then we have bigger problems,” he said, adding that the right security plan can solve the problem.

If the deal with Dave & Buster's falls through, who knows how long it will take for another business to buy that property.  With an overactive city council, many businesses may decide it's not worth the trouble and find another city to go to.  How long has the old Schlossmann's Dodge City lot been empty?  And demolition is finally just beginning for the project proposed there.

Wauwatosa is not Sim City, and we should not be micromanaging people's property rights.  While it's reasonable to be concerned about how businesses interact with the city at large and create compromise, it is not reasonable to decide which businesses are or aren't good enough for the city in general.

For those of you in the area that are interested in good photography, you should head over to a new art gallery which just opened on 76th street.  It's called Gallery 2622, and is at, no surprise, 2622 76th St. (in between the Wauwatosa Veterinary Clinic and Walgreens).  They are currently featuring the photography of Ryan Hainey.  He'll be on display through mid November.  The gallery plans on showing more than photography, including sculpture.

They have open hours on Mondays between 2 and 5, and by appointment.  Check them out, the work there is quite impressive.

This flyer was taped to my mother's front door today (click for a larger version):

Talk about deceptive.  I can imagine that some residents (particularly the elderly) would get the impression that this was some sort of official city notice asking for participation in some type of official program.  Pay attention to the "Public Notice" at the top, as well as the line "Your participation is appreciated." in the middle.  It's also written in the third person, starting in the second paragraph with "An Independent Contractor of Address America will begin working on this street..."  Not to mention, it's entitled "Operation House ID".  How official sounding.

This is very deceptive, and I would not trust a company that markets this way further than I could throw its owner.  Address America, Inc. sounds like a shady fly by night company, and I would recommend that you refuse to do business with them.