Well, not quite yet.
The Developers have submitted their zoning application and by doing so, have made their true intentions clear in regard to to this project. The plans they submitted are much worse than they had original let on, and seem to have made a mockery of the lip service they paid to getting neighborhood input. In short, it's bad-----really, really bad.
We have superimposed their drawing of the structure from their zoning application onto the zoning map that was posted on this blog a couple of weeks ago. As you can see above (click to make it bigger), the architect and developers intend to destroy the entire urban forest buffer between the Morningside neighborhood and Rock Springs Plaza to build a 5 story parking deck along with a 4 story structure on forest land, which is currently zoned (r-4) single family residential. If built as proposed, some 220,000 plus sqare feet of developed space will eventually sit on the land currently occupied by a pristine urban forest. Yep, not good. Not good for the trees, not good for the neighborhood, not good for the city.
The structure they propose to erect is oulined in black lines above, the parking deck in blue and the current zoning line separating the C-2 zoning (Rock Springs Plaza) from R-4 zoning (Morningside neighborhood) in red. As you can see, about a third of what they want to build would be built on land currently zoned for single family housing.
This is a much different project than the one presented by the developers at the NPU-F zoning committee meeting on August 27, 2007. (We'll have more on the contradiction between what the architect said on that day and what he has done later this week.) The developers have completely ignored every bit of input given to them by neighborhood residents and, in fact, have come up with a scheme to literally bulldoze heavily forested residential land to build in its place a 5 story concrete parking deck and an enormous 360 unit 4 story rental apartment structure. We read this as nothing short of an act of bad faith.
Due to their actions, the NPU-F Zoning Committee has asked them to once again attend a meeting and explain their plans to the public. This meeting is set for Monday, September 24 at 7:30 PM at Hillside, 1301 Monroe Drive.
We urge everyone who can attend to come to this meeting. It is extremely important that as many residents of NPU-F and other interested people attend this meeting, participate in the discussions and communicate your position on this rezoning application.
This project, if allowed to go forward, will not only degrade the Windemere Drive neighborhood of Morningside, but will also set a precedent for allowing intensive commercial development to eat into single family residential neighborhoods all over the City.
This is bad. Really, really bad.
1 comments:
Keep up the good work.
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