ATTENTION MAYOR, CITY COUNCIL, CITY PLANNING COMMISSION, AND ANY OTHER DECISION-MAKING ENTITIES: We, the undersigned/electronically signed, citizens of the city of Cullman, Alabama, do hereby OPPOSE the rezoning of the property at 3rd Ave SE/16th St SE/King Edward St from R-1 to R-4 as well as any future rezoning requests allowing the construction of high-density housing for multiple reasons.

First, the overall infrastructure of the adjacent neighborhoods and water/sewer/drainage systems is decades old and was not built to withstand the current proposed R-4 plan of high-density housing in the form of 86 houses and 14 multistory apartment buildings with 200-300+ housing units. The nearby neighborhoods have all increasingly experienced flooding and drainage issues as more and more R-1 and R-2 housing developments have been built in the area. Construction of this high volume of houses will further worsen these flooding and drainage problems.

Secondly, the property faces a lengthy portion of Third Avenue which is a two-lane road with no shoulders, no curbs, no sidewalks, and no caution lights or traffic signals anywhere in the vicinity. Third Avenue is the only access road to this property and the surrounding neighborhoods and numerous residents have already expressed concern over the already congested traffic and difficulty traveling along that roadway. It is the main access road funneling east side traffic into downtown Cullman and to all schools which children living here will attend (CCPS, East Elementary, CMS, CHS). It is also the main road to the preschools and private schools in downtown Cullman (St. John's Little Lambs, FUMC Sonshine Preschool, St. Paul's and Sacred Heart). There are already substantial traffic issues and congestion near the intersections of 3rd Ave/Hwy 278, 4th Ave/Hwy 278, and 3rd Ave/King Edward St, and over 40 accidents have occurred at these intersections just in the past 2 years. The intersections of 3rd and 4th Ave and Hwy 278 have no left turn lanes/signals and drivers often wait through multiple lights to turn left creating dangerous backups in traffic flow with traffic often being at a standstill.

Third, our city school systems are already facing overcrowding and increased student:teacher ratios. Adding hundreds of housing units and potentially hundreds of new students to our city schools would completely overwhelm our beloved school system with more students than our teachers and staff can handle, not to mention overcrowding the school buildings and car lines. Our schools do not currently have the classroom space or teachers to manage such a large influx of students and vehicle traffic.

Rezoning this property to R-4 and/or allowing the construction of high-density housing would be detrimental to the city of Cullman and have a significant trickle down effect affecting everything from traffic congestion, traffic accidents, drainage systems, infrastructure, and schools. Not to mention the increased traffic congestion having the real potential to hinder sheriff's deputies and emergency personnel from accessing Hwy 278 East in a timely manner during emergencies.

WE, THE UNDERSIGNED/ELECTRONICALLY SIGNED, RESIDENTS OF THE CITY OF CULLMAN ASK THAT YOU VOTE NO TO REZONING REQUESTS OR PLANS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH-DENSITY HOUSING OF THE PROPERTY LOCATED AT 3RD AVE SE/16TH ST SE/KING EDWARD ST.