Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Neighbor's Letter to Metro Council Opposing the "Duplex Kings" Plan Points to Neighborhood Plan for Single-Family Homes and Low Intensity Balance

A neighbor here in Salemtown forwarded me a copy of a letter he sent to Metro Council today opposing the zoning of the properties at 6th and Garfield back down to a duplex-exclusive zoning (BL2007-1422, which is up for Public Hearing on May 1). While a number of residents have sent letters to the Council, this letter is unique in that it calls upon the Council to stick to the neighborhood plan formulated a while back:
A few years back our association received plans for the future of our neighborhood that stressed the importance of single-family homes, great walkways, along with some duplexes and other improvements that would enhance this area. It is beginning to look like the developers of this neighborhood are putting too much emphasis on building duplexes and disregarding the need for single family homes that will give the area needed balance. For this reason, I oppose Ordinance BL 2007-1422 and I hope you consider the recent Planning Commissions judgment on the issue, which was unanimous against it as an indicator of the feeling of residents of this community.
Indeed, the 2002 Neighborhood Plan for Salemtown adopted by the Planning Commission calls for the balance in housing that many of us living in Salemtown are now advocating over BL2007-1422:
Neighborhood General covers areas with primarily residential character. They include a full range of residential housing types from well-integrated apartment buildings to single-family detached homes. Neighborhood General covers a majority of the Salemtown neighborhood. It includes a lower intensity residential character and plans call for it to remain as such with the addition of new residences on vacant lots (p. 9; 3.4).
A full range of types with a lower intensity character is exactly consistent with the Planning Commission's March 22 recommendation to rezone the 6th and Garfield properties for 3 single-family homes and 2 duplexes. The Metro Council should stick to the plan.

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