Venture Homes has petitioned the Mayor and Council to approve rezoning of a parcel of land behind N. Cooper Lake Road from R-20 to RAD-conditional, in order to make way for 15 homes on fewer than six acres.

We, the citizens and homeowners of the surrounding neighborhoods, urge the Mayor and City Council Members to vote NO.

The parcel in question is completely surrounded by established R-20 neighborhoods: Bennett Woods, Pineview Manor, and N. Cooper Lake Road. The proposed development is counter to the stated goals of the City's Comprehensive Plan (adopted 2007) for Single-Family Residential. It is incompatible with the surrounding homes in terms of density, style, and impact on the existing residents.

We would like the council to delay development of this property until a more appropriate proposal is submitted for this in-fill area. The Community Development Department memorandum on this request states that there is “reasonable economic use” for the parcel as it is currently zoned. We believe R-20 use of the property at issue is appropriate and fair and encourage the Mayor and City Council Members to deny Venture Homes’ petition for rezoning.

Effective Density of Nearly 4 Units/Acre

The development promises 2.67 units/acre, but the number of homes to be built on the property is effectively 4 units/acre. The lower figure is based on a standard calculation method that averages housing units across the entire parcel which includes a detention pond, road, and common area. However, the Proposed Site Plan states the total area of the 15 lots is 166,385 sq. ft. or 3.82 acres.15 homes on 3.82 acres is 3.93 units/acre.

By contrast, most lots on adjoining Plumcrest Road in Bennett Woods are true R-20 lots: they measure 100 x 200 feet or 20,000 sq. ft. The average lot size in the Proposed Site Plan is 11,092 sq. ft. Nine out of the 15 lots are smaller than that; and six are in the 9,000 sq. ft. range. You could drop two of the proposed units into one Plumcrest Road lot with room to spare.

Style

The stated goals of the City's Comprehensive Plan for Single-Family Residential include:

• Redevelopment must be compatible with existing neighborhood patterns.
• Suburban Residential... neighborhoods feature a high degree of building separation.

The proposed development includes a new road which will be cut between existing homes. This cul-de-sac development will be inserted into the backyards of established, one-story homes on large lots with tall pines and large green yards. Existing trees on the parcel for development will be clear cut.

New houses will be 35 feet high with front setbacks as little as 30 feet and side setbacks as small as 5 feet (placing some houses 10 feet apart). Hardly a “high degree” of separation.

Impact on Community
Finally, this development will negatively impact our community. It will:

• Increase traffic on already-congested N. Cooper Lake Road.
• Feed into schools that are over or nearly at capacity.
• Rely on the over-taxed storm drainage system at Plumcrest and Highview Roads for drainage. The plan calls for digging up Plumcrest Road to add a drainage pipe.
• Rely on the over-taxed sewer system at N. Cooper Lake Road.
• Set a precedent for assembling residential lots into relatively small parcels for high-density, in-fill development.

Thank you for your consideration.