I am a resident of Winding Ridge Estates, and a looming development threatens the tranquility and safety of our community. On January 8th, the Cedar Falls Planning and Zoning Commission approved plans for a 6-building apartment complex, named Meadow Ridge, to be located off of W 1st St and Lake Ridge Drive. This 186 unit complex has the potential to house upwards of 600 individuals. To be considered medium density, which this area has been zoned for, the developer can build anywhere from 4-12 units per acre. The current plan seeking approval is listed at 10.6, the high end of medium density. As you can imagine, the amount of concrete necessary for building such structures including parking lots can only be detrimental to our city's water quality. 

Herein lie my concerns, shared by many of my neighbors:

1. Traffic. West 1st Street is a residential zone, which is not designed to carry a heavy load of traffic. The addition of these several hundreds of residents could cause safety issues and road degradation, as well as difficulties in crossing the street for pedestrians, specifically the many school-aged children in our community who bike to school.

2. The Cedar Falls Public School System has seen its fair share of growth in recent decades. An influx of 186 families would surely over crowd and cause a need for redistricting and additional building. 

3. The area to be developed is home to some beloved wetlands. An entire acre of wetland is planned to be impacted. This directly effects our community's water quality and displaces much of the wildlife that share our resources. To quote the City of Cedar Fall's code: Sec 20-6 "Wetlands. No portion of a proposed subdivision or plat shall establish building lots, streets or other facilities wholly or partially in areas that are identified as wetlands or contained characteristics of wetlands as defined herein or as defined by the United States Army Corps of Engineers." Based on our City code, this land should remained undeveloped and protected. 

4. Density. As stated above, the proposed plans list a density at the high end of what is considered medium density. After an exhausted discourse with the developer and engineering firm, the density was decreased from 11.6 units per acre to the current 10.6 seeking approval. Many of our local officials on the Planning and Zoning Commission expressed desire for further decrease in density, but unfortunately approved these plans as an acceptable concession. When scrutinizing the developer's plans, the density is in fact higher. The developer and our city planners are calculating density based on the entirety of the land(see north section on plans) instead of calculating based on the area that will be living space. 

With this petition, we urge the citizens of Cedar Falls to join us in preventing the approval of the Meadow Ridge Apartment complex development. We suggest the identification of a more suitable location or a revisal of the project to consider factors such as traffic management and the impacts on existing residents. We strongly feel that the Cedar Falls Zoning Commission did not adequately address our concerns and hope that with your help, the City Council will. It's our home and our community - let’s keep it safe and peaceful. Please sign our petition to halt the construction of Meadow Ridge Apartment Complex.

Provided signatures are in opposition to Planning and Zoning Commision Approval of RZ24-003 - rezoning of 2.68 acres located
south of 1st Street and 35ft. east of Winding Ridge Estates from A-1 Agriculture to R-P Planned Residence and MP24-004x - R-P
District Master Plan Amendment - Meadow Ridge.