GANA Executive Committee Meeting

GANA (Green Acres Neighborhood Association)
Ad Hoc Executive Committee Meeting
7:00 pm, August 23, at Georgia Schaich’s home

Attending
Georgia Schaich, Tim Mayer, Stanley Routon, Julia Jackson, John Gaus, Jessica Gaus, Lois Sabo-Skelton, Ann Kreilkamp

Agenda

• Proposed use of a now vacant tree-covered lot between 2605 and 2611 East third street.
• Streetlights
• Next regular meeting

Summary
We said no to the idea, in fact, NO WAY!

The Process
Re: Proposed use of lot on 3rd Street. The property in question has no numbered address. 2605 is a house, and 2611 the now defunct mattress store. Tim Mayer, a Green Acres resident and City Councilman-at-large was approached by Tony Laudermilk (who works for Mary Friedman, who owns many properties in Green Acres) to sound him and the Green Acres neighborhood out on the idea of trying to get a zoning variance on the property so that Mary can put a duplex up on it.

Tim explained that though all of Green Acres is zoned “single family residential,” there’s a long history of zoning challenges for certain properties on 3rd street. At this point, there is only one exception to “single family residential,” and that is the three new duplexes on Roosevelt that back up to two new single family homes on Jefferson — all built for student housing. In this case the neighborhood did meet with the developer, Doug McCoy, and gave the green light to the project because he improved the neighborhood, including continuing Roosevelt through from 4th street to 3rd street, stormwater drainage infrastructure, and a pedestian pathway from Roosevelt to Jefferson. So lots of investment in the public good offset the impacts of the new duplexes. At the time of approval, the city’s Planning staff assured the neighbors that this was the only area in Green Acres that could meet the level of infrastructure improvements and thus Planning’s support for the project.

In the case of this new proposed use of the now tree-covered lot on 3rd, the owner wants to either cut a new driveway on 3rd street or cut an alleyway through from Overhill along the fence line in back of the 3rd street properties to the proposed new duplex.

The ad hoc executive committee discussed this proposed use of the tree-covered lot and decided against, due to the following:

• problems with parking
• more traffic
• appearance (this lot is narrow and deep, what woud this duplex look like?)
• please, no alley!
• most important, there are NO INCENTIVES from the owner of this property to persuade Green Acres residents that the public good would be enhanced despite expected negative impacts. Such incentives might include (we’re thinking big here….): gifting a house in Green Acres that Mary currently owns to GANA to serve as a neighborhood center; purchasing a lot in Green Acres for a neighborhood park; convincing and helping the city to create an underpass to the other side of 3rd street from Overhill; and/or continuing the sidewalk on the north side of 3rd to the bypass.

The day after our ad hoc executive committee meeting Tim talked with Mary Friedman who said that the reason she wanted to put a duplex on the property is that she intended to rent to couples, rather than students. However, Tim pointed out that there is no way Planning could either require or enforce her intent; that, in Planning lingo, her intent couldn’t be a “condition of approval.”

Re: streetlights. The city has responded to our request for more street lights, and wants to know where they are most needed. So, if you are interested in this project, then bring a your flashlight and gather with us at Georgia’s house (202 S. Hillsdale) at 7:45 on Sunday, September 11 and we will walk the neighborhood to locate its darkest intersections.

Re: Meetings. Our regular meetings take place at 4 pm on the third Sunday of each month at the new Bakehouse on 3rd St.

NEXT MEETING: SEPTEMBER 18.

Ann Kreilkamp
Scribe (Secretary)