Why is this story buried???

Councilman calls for termination of department head

By Ryan Gauthier | Monday, February 1, 2010, 04:25 PM

Trouble appears to be brewing at the Middletown City Building, with newly-elected 3rd Ward Councilman A.J. Smith calling for the termination of Planning Director Marty Kohler.

In an e-mail sent to City Manager Judy Gilleland, Smith criticized Kohler’s comments at a January Planning Commission meeting regarding a proposed Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

“Once again, we have alienated developers and businesses that are interested in bringing jobs to this city by making recommendations that enforce ‘stringent’ ordinances,” Smith wrote. “We need to learn how to be more flexible.”

Planning Commission members voted 4-1 in favor of the 18,670-square-foot medical office building, which will occupy a 3.83-acre lot in 4300 block of Union Road.

The commission approved a combined preliminary and final development plan for the center with several modifications: relocating commercial trash containers and a smoking shelter to the west side of the building; the construction of temporary access to Union Road until it is widened; and mounding and landscaping along the east side of the property will be confined to a 15-foot strip between the parking lot and right-of-way.

Smith said he did not understand why staff members recommended not granting variances that would allow the smoking shelter and dumpster to remain where developers proposed them. He said it is a “prime example” of Middletown being unfriendly to businesses.

“Marty Kohler, in my opinion needs to be let go,” he wrote. “He is a detriment to this city and it’s [sic] future!”

Smith, 20, was elected to Middletown City Council just last November.