HomeMy WebLinkAboutBENNETT ROAD BUNGALOWS - PDP - 42-01 - CORRESPONDENCE - CITIZEN COMMUNICATION (26)August 20, 2001
Mr. Cameron Gloss
Director of Current Planting
City of Fort Collins
P.O. Box 580
Fort Collins, CO 80522-0580
Dear Mr. Gloss:
I understand that your department will conduct a neighborhood information meeting at Bennett Elementary
School on August 22 to discuss a proposed development for a parcel of land on Bennett Road across from
the school. Since I will be unable to attend that meeting, I would like to share a few thoughts with you
about the proposed development.
Our home of the past 32 years is within a half block of the Bennett Road property, but that is not my main
concern. My first concern is locating such an intense residential development so close to the school.
Although the R L zoning restricts the use to single-family detached dwellings, it is doubtful that these units
would attract owner -occupants. Most likely, these would become rental units in short order. The demand
for rental units is extremely high this close to CSU. Over half of the single-family residences in the
immediate neighborhood, previously owner -occupied, have already been converted to rentals. Only rarely
are these units occupied by families, due to the high cost of rents. Typically, they are owned by absentee
landlords and locally managed, if at all, by management agencies. To make them financially viable, the
units are rented to five or more unrelated individuals, and short-term occupancies are the rule. While such
housing is badly needed in our area, it inevitably creates activities and instability that are not appropriate in
such close proximity to an elementary school.
My second concern, perhaps more fundamental to the review process, is the status of this parcel of land in
the City's planning. As you undoubtedly know, the City's policy calls for developing this property as a
neighborhood pocket park. This policy is clearly articulated in the West Central Neighborhoods Plan
(Policy DI, Chapter 3, Page 14). Those of us who worked long and hard to create that plan, as well as the
citizens of the West Central Neighborhoods, would find it difficult to accept a breach of the City's policy in
this first real test of the Plan. During the Plan's development, analyses conclusively determined that
neighborhoods proximate to the Bennett Road site were deficient in park and open space amenities, as
measured by existing City standards for neighborhood parks. Since land that would be needed for a full-
scale neighborhood park is not available in these neighborhoods, the undeveloped Bennett Road site was
selected for a pocket park as a feasible alternative. This solution seemed to mesh well with the City's
cooperation in park development with the Poudre School District. Discussions with the School District
generated considerable support, including interest in closing Bennett Road to through traffic and physically
joining the Bennett Road property with the Bennett Elementary School grounds. The merit of this
approach was particularly appealing considering the persistent problem with through auto traffic past the
school.
I understand that the forthcoming meeting is exploratory and that no formal review request has been
submitted for the proposed development. Before considering such formal review, I hope that you will give
serious consideration to my comments. I feather hope that the City will not pass up an opportunity to
develop the Bennett Road property as a neighborhood pocket park in accordance with the West Central
Neighborhoods Plan.
Sincerely�Q�-QG�%%r/'�D
old E. Worth Copies: Steve Olt
1501 South Shields Street Marty Tharp
Fort Collins, CO 80521 484-4447 Prospect/Shields Neighborhood Assoc.
Principal, Bennett Elementary School