12/31/2009 3:45:00 PM New Mago hearing set Jan. 21, maybe Attorneys from city, Tao Fellowship to meet Tuesday to ‘compare notes’
The Cottonwood Planning and Zoning Commission is currently scheduled to discuss the Mago Earth Park issue Jan. 21, 6 p.m., at Mingus Union High School.
Cottonwood City Hall has now found a larger venue in which to hold the controversial hearing for the Mago Earth Park and Mago Statue.
The hearing will be at the newly renovated Mingus Union High School auditorium. The date is a Thursday evening, Jan. 21 at 6 p.m.
Maybe.
There may be another change. Even after that schedule was established and legally advertised, questions remain about whether it will proceed as planned.
Cottonwood Community Development Director George Gehlert says Amy Ko, a representative from the Tao Fellowship, is concerned the Jan. 21 date will not allow Mago Earth Park officials to attend.
Gehlert, however, says that date and location will remain in place for now, since, by law, the city must advertise hearings 15 days in advance.
In the meantime, the city attorney is to meet Tuesday with an attorney representing the Tao Fellowship to "compare notes," Gehlert explained.
The department has, however, taken one firm action in regards to Mago Earth Park. The city has issued a stop order in one case. A building permit had been approved for security lighting for the statue. However, an inspection of the site has shown that there is already widespread electrical wiring installed for entire park's lighting, rather than just for the specific security lighting permit, Gehlert explained. The Fellowship has proposed a lighting site plan that includes a total of 103 light fixtures for 282,035 lumens.
If the Jan. 21 hearing does proceed, it will be the third formal hearing set on the six-acre Mago Earth Park applications on Cottonwood's northern border. The Fellowship is asking for an amendment to the existing conditional use permit and a design review of the Mago Statue.
The original hearing Nov. 16 was continued when the commission could not agree, but did allow a stipulation "granting the temporary placement of a 50-foot tall statue on site for one week, during a scheduled event on Dec. 16."
A park dedication was held Dec. 16 that attracted hundreds of adherents of the Tao Fellowship plus many other local area residents.
The Mago Statue itself has attracted significant comment and reaction and a subsequent hearing Dec. 21 on the applications was moved to the Cottonwood Public Safety building for its expanded seating.
But, a crowd packed the meeting room to capacity, flowed into the hallway and spilled into the parking lot. Cottonwood police assembled eight officers to manage crowd control and the hearing was once again delayed. Commission asked that an even larger space be found and the meeting be held exclusively for the Mago Park question.
Thursday morning, the city announced that the meeting has been scheduled at the Mingus auditorium.
That remodeled space holds an audience of about 900 people.
Other planning agenda items, not associated with the Mago application, will be considered during the commission's regular meeting, scheduled the following Monday, Jan 25.
Posted: Monday, January 04, 2010
Article comment by:
Brian Carlson
The Mago statue has generated more passionate debate than the Dibor Roberts story. All this anger is the result of a statue that is supposed to represent World Peace. The Tao Fellowship will fight for the right to represent peace.
Mago represents different things to different people. That’s great for those who want the statue to represent world peace. Both sides have the freedom to believe what they want to believe. The statue does not represent world peace to everybody.
People do not like having things forced upon them. The other statues in the park did not create a big uproar. The size and location of Mago has made many people feel that another belief system is being forced upon them.
The Tao Fellowship has taken the attitude that it is easier to ask forgiveness than to get permission when it comes to permits. If the Tao Fellowship really wants peace, why not move the statue back a little from the 89A Highway or take it off the large pedestal?
Posted: Sunday, January 03, 2010
Article comment by:
Gary Bohn
It is plain to see that you people in Cottonwood and Sedona take your religion seriously. When I arrived here the other day, I was fascinated with all the shrines I came across. I'm here to introduce you to God so you can worship intelligently, know who you're dealing with.
"The God who made the world and everything in it, this Master of sky and land, doesn't live in custom-made shrines or need the human race to run errands for him, as if he couldn't take care of himself. He makes the creatures; the creatures don't make him. Starting from scratch, he made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him. He doesn't play hide-and-seek with us. He's not remote; he's near. We live and move in him, can't get away from him! One of your poets said it well: 'We're the God-created.' Well, if we are the God-created, it doesn't make a lot of sense to think we could hire a sculptor to chisel a god out of stone for us, does it?
"God overlooks it as long as you don't know any better—but that time is past. The unknown is now known, and he's calling for a radical life-change. He has set a day when the entire human race will be judged and everything set right. And he has already appointed the judge, confirming him before everyone by raising him from the dead. This is Jesus.
The basic reality of God is plain enough. Open your eyes and there it is! By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created (like Sedona) people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can't see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of his divine being. So nobody has a good excuse. What happened was this: People knew God perfectly well, but when they didn't treat him like God, refusing to worship him, they trivialized themselves into silliness and confusion so that there was neither sense nor direction left in their lives. They pretended to know it all, but were illiterate regarding life. They traded the glory of God who holds the whole world in his hands for cheap fiberglass figurines you can buy at any roadside stand.
And all this because they traded the true God for a fake god, and worshiped the god they made instead of the God who made them.
Gary Bohn Sedona
okay, John, I will try to bring you a present. But you ruined my surprise! I was going to buy you a brand-new house! It's okay though, because the deal fell through anyway.
Maybe a new car? Okay, how 'bout just a cake? Well, Happy Birthday anyway, in case I don't see you there. :)
PS: your post made me laugh :)
Posted: Sunday, January 03, 2010
Article comment by:
It's not a wonderful gift
The Mago statue is a blight on the landscape.
Posted: Saturday, January 02, 2010
Article comment by:
City needs to wake up
I note in the above article about the hearing on the Mago statue being rescheduled for Jan. 21st an interesting point which was glossed over. The fact that "the department" had issued a permit for security lighting for the statue which only had a one week permit itself to be there. That week has come and gone. However, "upon inspection" the City found extensive electrical wiring installed for presumably all 103 lights they intend to install. This work was all performed without permit and I'd be willing to bet by an unlicensed contractor. The City needs to wake up to the fact that these people do what they want when they want with no genuine regard for zoning, permits, etc. Give them an inch and they'll take a mile. Now they'll let their attorneys try to sweet talk the City with dollars. Just watch and see!
Posted: Friday, January 01, 2010
Article comment by:
John A. Bond
January 21st is my birthday. I wonder if I should attend this meeting as a birthday present to myself.
Bring lots of presents if you decide to attend. Just put, "For John" on the gifts. Real gifts, too. No gag ones.
