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New apartments proposed for Seward/West Side


GRDadof3

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This is an interesting thread, and I have not really had the time recently to go thoroughly into it and still really do not, but it seems that a pattern exists on this side of the city, and the pattern is really one of schizophrenia. Having tried to do planning in this area it is all too evident that some people want to see reinvestment, infill, redevelopment and the creation of a place, while other folks seem to not want anything other than the status quo of single family homes, many of which are in questionable condition. While both sides have true merit in what they are saying, in many cases the argument of status quo seems suspect, at best. Many of the "battleground sites", where development has been proposed and subsequently shot down have been neighborhood edge conditions. This edge condition has seen substantial new development across the street from it or adjacent to it or within some reasonable distance to it - all of which is a far cry from single family neighborhoods. There seems to be some discrepancy on where the line is between what is preserved as single family and what is re-developed.

You can not possibly argue that directly across the street from non-single family homes that single family homes should be preserved. The writing is on the wall.

You can not possibly argue that single family homes along West Fulton should be preserved in lieu of adding mixed use development that is consistent with the zoning ordinance. But this group of citizens has done just that.

The shear numbers alone justify building larger, mixed use or multi-family buildings in some areas as you can not redevelop existing detached single family with new detached single family. The numbers don't allow it and it is a no win situation, ultimately for everyone.

In this particular case, it would seem that the planning commission overstepped its bounds in regards to the discussion of style of architecture and while there is some latitude in this discussion, it is indeed a fine line that is very difficult to navigate.

To have a planning commission interject on adding dormers to the roofline or even brick facades seems a bit out of the realm of planning. To tell an applicant to make it look like that building over there, but change this, that and the other thing is counterproductive. Either the project meets the intent of the zoning and masterplan or it doesn't and it should be judged on those merits and approved or denied based on some quantitative element of the ordinance, not because it has or doesn't have doric columns or dormers or masonry walls.

Sorry I drifted a bit here.

Anyway, to the question of "can redevelopment and preservation go together?" Yes, absolutely, they have to. You need to create or maintain diversity, character and the dynamic nature of the neighborhood. Static neighborhoods will fail. These places are not museums. But the diversity thing cuts both ways. Diversity doesn't equal R1 zoning, which has only blocks and blocks of single family homes.

I have painstakingly sat through meetings in heritage hill, where the residents seem to want only single family homes and no parking on the street. They do not want existing multi-family to be kept as multi-family and they certainly do not want new multi-family....Even though the neighhborhood is peppered with it and it is a contributing factor to the richness (and diversity) of this neighborhood. If I have to hear about on street parking, the lack of it or the fact that there is too much any more I will certainly gag.

Sorry, digression again.

This incidently is the same kind of reaction you would here from neighbors in a far flung township.

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