We, the undersigned, affected property owners and residents of the surrounding neighborhood, respectfully express our opposition to the implementation of the proposed sidewalk installation on Lightfoot Drive in Pikesville, Maryland.  

This project will impact the homeowners whose property will be directly affected in many ways including:

• Loss of land in the front and side yards of properties.  
• Removal of mature trees and landscaping to make way for the sidewalks.
• Increased maintenance responsibilities and liability, including sidewalk repair and snow and ice removal.  This will cause significant undue burden or cost to the many seniors who reside on Lightfoot Drive and will be unable to physically maintain the sidewalks themselves.  
• Creating more difficult turns in and out of driveways, as many already have steep driveways or challenginging turns.  Narrower streets will make it more dangerous to get on and off of many of the private driveways along the street, with tighter and more awkward turns into oncoming traffic. 
• Potentially higher property tax bills.

This proposed Lightfoot Sidewalk Plan will impact not just the homeowners who live directly on Lightfoot Drive, but will impact the neighborhood in its entirety.  Some of the concerns include:

• Loss of character, as the neighborhood is a unique rural-like neighborhood in a suburban area.  Sidewalks will completely change the feel and the beauty.  With its calm, park-like surroundings, this neightborhood is a special pocket of traquility within the larger area.  This is the exact reason most of the residents chose to purchase homes in this area.  Adding sidewalk will give a more suburban feel and detract from the beauty.
• Increased foot traffic, including increased solicitation and possibly crime.  There are currently many who avoid our area as there are no sidewalks, which keeps the neighborhood quieter.
• More danger for bicyclists and scooters.  As bicyclists and kids on scooters are rarely on sidewalks even where the sidewalks exist further down Lightfoot Drive, narrowing the street will make it more dangerous for those not using the sidewalk.  The steep hills of this section of Lightfoot Drive will only make this more dangerous when bicyclists, etc are speeding down much closer to cars than they do presently.
• Narrowing of the street.   Currently, the street is wide enough for two cars to pass, even when there is a parked car on the side of the street.  As they plan to narrow the street to make way for the sidewalk, it will become more bottlenecked and cause additional traffic backups, especially near the intersection with Old Court Rd.  Parked cars along one or both sides of the street would make a narrower Lightfoot Drive more congested and more dangerous both for the drivers and pedestrians.

We urge local officials to reconsider or halt this plan, and to leave our beautiful neighborhood the way we love it.