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HomeMy WebLinkAboutGILLESPIE FARM - ODP - 29-00 - CORRESPONDENCE - (16)INITIAL COMMENTS OPGILLESPIE FARM - OVERALL AELOPMENT PLAN: SUPPORTING SIGNATURES OF AFFECTED PROPERTY OWNERS/NEIGHBORHOOD RESIDENTS A%-fe / reccrr 6)Koc0-- Fourth, we are concerned with plans to retain the existing farmhouse and outbuildings which are now a neighborhood eyesore. Why preserve a decrepit, nondescript farmhouse (the current occupant is now building a new home in Wellington) and outbuildings on what will be a non -working farm? Neighborhood residents already use nearby Lee Martinez Park which has a farm with animals and educational displays. Further, there are many nearby working farms where you can actually see crops and animals being raised . Also, the farmhouse appears to be so close to NCR i l as to occupy land necessary to provide a frontage road and make improvements to NCR 11 as discussed above. If the farmhouse must be retained on the development as a local landmark, it should be moved and incorporated into the the neighborhood center where it would be centrally located for neighborhood use. We appreciate the opportunity to provide you with our initial, written comments on your proposed ODP. We also look forward to future opportunities to provide additional comments during the City of Fort Collins development review process. Please contact me at (970) 407-0531 for further explanations of our comments or to arrange follow-on meetings with neighborhood representatives. Sincerely, Joseph W. Bleicher Enclosure: Supporting Signatures of Affected Property Owners/Neighborhood Residents cc: Mr. Ron Fuchs: City Planner, City of Fort Collins Current Planning Department Ms.Linda Ripley: VF Ripley Associates Inc. Joseph and Sharon Blelf&r 2509 N. County Road 11 Fort Collins, CC 80524 Phone (970) 407-0531 August 28, 2000 Mr. Tom Dougherty Tom Dougherty Construction 220 East Mulberry Street Fort Collins, CO 80524 Dear Mr. Dougherty: Thank you for the opportunity for my neighbors and me to provide our initial comments during the August 23, 2000, neighborhood meeting on the "Gillespie Farm - Overall Development Plan (ODP)". We wanted to follow up in writing to you on specific concerns and thoughts which were voiced at the meeting. We sincerely appreciate your efforts to obtain our input on the ODP, and we look forward to working with you in a cooperative rather than an adversarial manner. First, we are concerned with maximizing the compatibility of your single-family lot sizes on North County Road (NCR )11 with the 150 foot wide lots of the existing single-family homes on NCR 11 bordering the Fort Collins Country Club (FCCC). This would also be compatible with existing neighborhood homes further south on the west side of NCR 11 as well as homes on Richard's Lake Road, Country Club Road, Sherrel Drive, and other nearby streets. As you know, the Richard's Lake PUD now calls for mirror -image 150 foot lot sizing to the existing housing on Richard's Lake Road bordering the FCCC. We believe that proximity to the FCCC would support inclusion of more compatible larger homes bordering NCR 11. Second, we are concerned that your proposed location of the multi -family housing parcel is in very close visual and physical proximity to NCR 11; this location would be detrimental to tying in with the existing single family housing throughout our neighborhood. We believe locating the multi -family parcel farther away from NCR 11 (i.e., to the southeast toward Timberline Road) would address our concerns and also help retain the predominant single-family character of your proposed development. Third, we are concerned that we obtain your support for a bermed frontage road along NCR 11 consistent with the earlier agreement between the neighborhood and the developer of the Richard's Lake PUD. The frontage road would provide existing homes with limited, consolidated access to NCR 11. and the berming would help mitigate road noise which will result from future, increased traffic on NCR 11. We are also concerned that related plans for widening NCR 11 will address improving neighborhood safety and quality of life through reduced vehicle traffic speeds and generous -sized bike lanes for the large numbers of cyclists, runners, and walkers who now use NCR 11 on a daily basis.