June 5,2000
As a property owner and 7 year resident, I am concerned about a few points in the proposal. As far as the height restrictions, we have had restrictions in place since 1993 to protect Castleberry Hill as a National Register District. Most people have purchased, renovated and developed their property based on the current regulations. These owner occupied spaces provide a certain quality of life that drew them to this area to begin with.
The majority of the buildings in the Castleberry Hill Historic District are one or two story buildings. I can only think of nine buildings that exceed two stories. I do not believe that we need to be in such a rush for a restaurant and retail that it sacrifices others property value and quality of life.
In my block, 32 foot height street frontage is the current regulation. This is designed to protect our historic district at the buildings facade. In recent months, variances have been passed by the neighborhood association for a 36 and a 38 foot building. Now there is a proposal to change the current 1993 regulation to allow 40 and 50 foot buildings. These variance applications were not made known to all property owners, but were approved by a handful of attendees at the neighborhood meeting. Not all attendees were property owners.
I have been to almost every Neighborhood Association meeting for the past seven years and I do not feel that the process of these variances is all-inclusive. I believe that issues such as height variances should be made aware to all property owners and voted on by all property owners. All property owners should be notified by mail of upcoming important issues. For those unable to attend, they should be allowed to vote by mail.
Unfortunately, I was not able to sign up for the Steering Committee of this new proposal. I appreciate their time and hard work, but I do not think that their findings are the consensus of the majority of the property owners. By not "penalizing" the developer of the railroad gulch, would in turn impact and "penalize" a large number of property owners on Peters Street. The impact would be felt on the Mueller and Deere residents and future developments of Fulton Supply and JR Erickson. This proposal is geared to the interest of the developer and not necessarily for the best interest of the neighborhood. Our neighborhood and residents will be here long after the developers have moved on to other areas.
By Calvin Lockwood
As a property owner and 7 year resident, I am concerned about a few points in the proposal. As far as the height restrictions, we have had restrictions in place since 1993 to protect Castleberry Hill as a National Register District. Most people have purchased, renovated and developed their property based on the current regulations. These owner occupied spaces provide a certain quality of life that drew them to this area to begin with.
The majority of the buildings in the Castleberry Hill Historic District are one or two story buildings. I can only think of nine buildings that exceed two stories. I do not believe that we need to be in such a rush for a restaurant and retail that it sacrifices others property value and quality of life.
In my block, 32 foot height street frontage is the current regulation. This is designed to protect our historic district at the buildings facade. In recent months, variances have been passed by the neighborhood association for a 36 and a 38 foot building. Now there is a proposal to change the current 1993 regulation to allow 40 and 50 foot buildings. These variance applications were not made known to all property owners, but were approved by a handful of attendees at the neighborhood meeting. Not all attendees were property owners.
I have been to almost every Neighborhood Association meeting for the past seven years and I do not feel that the process of these variances is all-inclusive. I believe that issues such as height variances should be made aware to all property owners and voted on by all property owners. All property owners should be notified by mail of upcoming important issues. For those unable to attend, they should be allowed to vote by mail.
Unfortunately, I was not able to sign up for the Steering Committee of this new proposal. I appreciate their time and hard work, but I do not think that their findings are the consensus of the majority of the property owners. By not "penalizing" the developer of the railroad gulch, would in turn impact and "penalize" a large number of property owners on Peters Street. The impact would be felt on the Mueller and Deere residents and future developments of Fulton Supply and JR Erickson. This proposal is geared to the interest of the developer and not necessarily for the best interest of the neighborhood. Our neighborhood and residents will be here long after the developers have moved on to other areas.
By Calvin Lockwood