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<br />General Objections to the Project <br /> <br />. The project doesn't fit the neighborhood. <br />This neighborhood in nearly fully developed and consists of high-end single family and townhouses. <br />Many homes have been in existence for over 10 years. The neighborhood is stable, turnover of housing <br />is low and neighbors know neighbors. Consistent and appropriate development would consist of more <br />homes of a similar nature. It is not fair to the existing residents to impose such a dramatic change of <br />land use and population to the neighborhood. ... <br /> <br />. The developer says condominiums, but is it really? _' <br />A owner-occupied is more desirable than rental units because of the stability of the residents. But, there <br />is no way to prevent the developer ITom declaring this to be apartments, or rental condominiums, or <br />owner-rented condominiums. As you know, the City Council recently called for a moratorium on multi- <br />unit developments to have time to sort this out; this is a recognized problem. <br /> <br />. The area will not bear the traffic generated by 70-100+ new units. <br />There is no quick access to a major road. All traffic will be put onto Whispering Lane. The nearest <br />cross-streets are Featherstone Road and 4th Street which are feeder streets. To reach Highway 55, <br />Pleasant A venue and General Sieben Drive all require passing through multiple stop signs. <br /> <br />A traffic study was done for a 30 unit building which was proposed for the adjoining lot. The road was <br />found to be adequate, but I feel the study was flawed. The study was conducted at a time of low traffic; <br />during the summer when the high school was out and people would be on vacation. <br /> <br />This project is over twice as large as the one for which the study was made. If this 72 unit project is <br />allowed, almost certainly an addition 30-36 unit building will be put on the adjacent lot for a total of <br />102-108 units. If each unit has 2 cars, which might be a low estimate, it will introduce 200-250 cars <br />(trucks, moving vans, etc.) into a street which previously had about 25 cars using it for residential <br />access. <br /> <br />Whether this increase will necessitate street improvements, I don't know, but it is not fair to the existing <br />residents to bear the cost of improvements to a road which already suits their needs. <br /> <br />. The road is already difficult. <br />Whispering Lane and Crestview both curve and rise sharply to the top, peaking at the intersection of <br />Whispering Lane and Crestview. Visibility is limited and sometimes hazardous. I often have difficulty <br />exiting my driveway, which is adjacent to this intersection, because of the lack of visibility. To add a 4th <br />and 5th intersection to an already problematic comer is bad planning. See the attached photos for <br />reference, and come and take a look. <br /> <br />Featherstone Road is a sharp incline, the top of which is about 100 feet west of the intersection with <br />Whispering Lane. There is already a 'Blind Intersection' sign posted there. Featherstone Road is a main <br />feeder to this area, this intersection will be truly hazardous if the volume of traffic is expanded by 5x or <br />more. <br /> <br />There are a lot of children in the area. They like to ride their bikes and some play in the street. In <br />particular, the lower portion of Whispering Lane (south of 4th Street which connects to Pleasant) often <br />has street hockey and ad hoc baseball games going on. Sure, they shouldn't play in the street, but this is <br />what makes a neighborhood. r believe that there is the significant risk of someone being hit if traffic <br />volume is high. <br />