Pre-hearing Exhibits - Laserfiche WebLink

From:majrafferty@gmail.com on behalf of Maj Hutchinson To:TAYLOR Becky G Subject:Public comment on the proposed Oakleigh Meadow Co-housing development Date:Monday, September 23, 2013 5:28:12 PM Dear Ms. Taylor, I want to let you know that I'm very concerned about the Oakleigh Meadow Co- housing project under consideration at the Oct. 2nd hearing. I am a concerned neighbor living on Oakleigh Lane. My family has been here for the past seven years. Our family has a young child who rides her bike in the street and crosses the street to visit neighbors. Thedisagreement regarding the proposed Oakleigh Meadow Co- housing project and the neighborhood is complicated. My husband and I were excited about the initial idea of a small co-housing project. We were looking forward to having a few more families on the street. We attended many of the OMC gatherings during the summer and met the people involved. We've been impressed with the community building among the group and what heart-ful and lovely folks are involved with it.I have lived in co-housing for five years and I'm a fan of this community-focused living arrangement. I am not anti-development. I am opposed to this project in its current size. The number of units proposed (28) is too many for this small, dead-end street neighborhood. Adding 47 more cars to our street is almost unthinkable in terms of traffic impact; it more than doubles the current number. The current size is also too big for this environment. If there were less units, they would not need to push so far down toward the river. It may well be (as they have stated) that this group needs to build 28 units to generate enough income to make units affordable for members and to make mortgages low enough for banks to approve them. I understand that. But that doesn't mean that this is the appropriate setting for a project of this size. This is privately owned land that will ultimately be developed. I understand and accept that fact. The question is how will that happen? Will it be in a way that takes into account the existing community on the street and works to find compromise? Some of the responses to opposition from OMC on the issue of decreasing the size of the project have been, "we could have asked for 32 units" or "this could have been developed by an out of town developer who doesn't care about the neighborhood." As a community, we can do much better than that. The neighbors and OMC have begun a mediation process. I am involved in it and believe in mediation. However, OMC has said that they will not postpone the hearing or decrease the number of units proposed.I think this is a sad beginning for a project with so much heart and potential, that is focused on building a cohesive community with positive impacts on the environment. I hear a loud contradiction in the vision and how it is being expressed in the existing neighborhood. If I were a future member of OMC, I would have misgivings about joining a community, the size of which, is strongly opposed by the existing neighborhood.