HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-17-23 Public Comment - P. Stewart - Public CommentFrom:Stewart, Phil
To:Agenda
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Public Comment
Date:Sunday, September 17, 2023 10:14:52 AM
Attachments:PSS-CDB-9-16-23.pdf
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The attached letter is intended for the Community Development Board public hearing of September
18, 2023.
Phil
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September 16, 2023
Dear Community Development Board,
My name is Phil Stewart. My spouse and I have lived in our home close to MSU and downtown for more
than three decades, and it has been wonderful. We raised three sons in this house. I have appreciated
the mature trees and verdant yard, being able to walk to work and to nearby coffee shops, pizza, and a
small market, a sense of community with interesting neighbors, and many other virtues. I am truly
grateful for what the historic Southside has been to us. What will happen to this lovely, livable, diverse
neighborhood (families, retirees, student renters…) if the City inflicts its UDC overhaul on us?
In answer to this question, I am going to bulldoze my beloved 1940 Cape Cod style house for you. Here
we go. On the next page you can see a sketch of our property. Our house has approximately 2400 SF of
living space on two floors on a lot that is about 12500 SF. We have a majestic blue spruce, an old
mountain ash, a maple, two voluptuous chokecherries, several aspen and many other plants. After
razing the existing house and detached garage, hacking down the blue spruce, maple, and aspens, and
applying 40% lot coverage, a footprint of 5000 SF could be developed. I drew in an apartment building
with a more modest footprint of 3750 SF, envisioning three units of 1250 SF on the first and second
floors and two units of 1250 SF on the third floor. (See sketch on third page in which the dashed line
represents setbacks). This yields a total of eight units and 10000 SF. Then we chop down the
chokecherries and add a hideous parking lot at the back of the property.
What will have been gained by this sickening reconfiguration? Densification, which seems to be the only
thing that counts anymore. The property that once housed five people can now accommodate 8-16.
Was it worth it? I don’t mean financially, but rather in terms of the terrible losses incurred: tall trees
that will never be seen again, space for children to play, historic charm and beauty, and neighborly
community spirit. Once gone, these will not magically reappear. One thing that will assuredly not be
gained is affordable housing. For all the invocation of affordability, there does not appear to be any
realistic discussion of what the redeveloped properties in established neighborhoods are actually going
to sell or rent for.
This is not a purely hypothetical scenario. The City is moving to change its rules with the expectation
that such redevelopment will occur. Many of the properties nearby to mine are on similar-sized lots with
historic houses.
Please advise the City to slow down and thoughtfully reconsider the irreversible damage the proposed
UDC revisions would do to established neighborhoods. We oppose the collapsing of R-1, R-2, and R-3
into a single RA zone.
Respectfully yours,
Phil and Aimée Stewart
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