HomeMy WebLinkAboutRIGDEN FARM, PHASE 1 - PDP - 56-98C - CORRESPONDENCE - CITIZEN COMMUNICATION (8)forever. The truth is, we cannot pave our way out of traffic problem — it isn't
rocket science to realize that whenever we build another development full of
people and cars, we only create more traffic problems.
Worse yet, the brief stretch of Timberline from Vermont north to Drake, where
the Rigden Farm project is proposed, contains one of the few remaining farms
in the area and offers some of the few remaining views of the plains. Once the
Rigden Farm project begins, the farm and the view are gone forever. Do you
really think those of us who currently live in that area want to live next to a
traffic -congested, 6-lane road, hemmed in on both sides by acres and acres of
houses, with no farmland and no views in sight?
And how much money will it cost to bring in utilities, such as water, gas, and
electricity to such a huge development? What about the increased demand for
police, fire, and emergency medical services? What kind of overcrowding will
result in existing schools as a result of the new development? How will the loss
of agricultural land and wildlife habitat affect us? I propose that the costs are
far too high to warrant building this development.
Therefore I ask you, Planning and Zoning Board, if there really is a need for the
Rigden Farm development - a need that is not just the personal financial need
of the developer? And if so, where are the hundreds of letters from citizens
demanding that the development be built? Where are the hundreds of phone
calls from citizens pleading with the City to please put in a shopping/business
complex and hundreds more homes at the corner of Timberline and Drake?
Where are the citizens' pleas to get rid of another farm, cut down trees, and
obliterate our views of the plains? How many citizens have contacted you
asking that Timberline be widened into a 6-way thoroughfare just like College
Avenue?
I suspect that those calls and letters do not exist. After all, if I remember the
earlier meetings on the proposed Rigden Farm development, citizens from
neighboring areas were quite vocal in their concern over the loss of the views of
farmland and open space, as well as their concern over more traffic congestion
and a wider, uglier Timberline. In fact, I further suggest that the citizens of this
city are constantly being railroaded into tacitly accepting developments they
don't want or need - developments that financially benefit the developer and
only succeed in destroying farmland, open space, and the unique quality of life
that this city once enjoyed.
And so I say once again, we do NOT need the Rigden Farm development. And
although I may be only one person writing this letter, trust me when I say, there
are plenty of others like me. We want developers to stop ruining our quality of
life and destroying the environment. And we only wish that the Planning &
Zoning board and City staff felt the same!
Sincerely,
Vha Roden
Martha Roden
1967 Massachusetts St.
Ft. Collins, CO 80525
(970) 225-2572 - home
August 30, 1999
To: Troy Jones and Hearing Officer
Cc: Planning and Zoning Board
As you will be addressing the issue of the Rigden Farm development this
evening, I believe it is important that you understand the views of a citizen who
will be living near that proposed development. My name is Martha Roden and
you may remember me as one of the few citizens present the last time you held
a meeting to discuss the Rigden Farm development proposal. In this letter I am
once again voicing a loud and resounding NO to continuing this project.
I consider myself a spokesperson for all the creatures who cannot speak; whose
food, shelter, and lives are being destroyed every day in the name of suburban
development. I also consider myself a spokesman for a growing number of
citizens in Fort Collins who are tired of developers tearing up the countryside
and degrading our quality of life. In general, these citizens feel uncomfortable
voicing their opinions in front of a microphone at a formal meeting, but more
often than not, they feel helpless because they believe that their opinions do not
count — that the Planning & Zoning meetings and Administrative Hearings are
really nothing more than a soapbox for developers and a rubber-stamp of
approval for their projects.
I cannot count the number of Planning & Zoning meetings I have attended
where developers have presented their proposals as "done deals," telling the
audience that we "need" another housing development, or convenience store, or
franchise restaurant, or cinema complex. These developers claim that they are
simply supplying a demand, yet I wonder how they know what we need or want.
They've never asked my neighbors or me what we need!
In fact I am beginning to think that Fort Collins should be nicknamed the
Choice City for Developers because here developers have the choice of
developing whatever they want, wherever they want, whenever they want,
regardless of whether or not there is an actual need for it. After all, we need a
development at the corner of Timberline and Drake like we need a hole in the
head. The intersection of Timberline and Drake is already clogged with traffic.
What happens when we create another huge development like Rigden Farm -
where do all the cars go from the development? They spill out onto Timberline,
of course and only make the traffic problem worse.
At prior meetings, the City stated that it wants to turn Timberline into a 6-lane
road like College Avenue to alleviate traffic — and which of us who live in that
area want to live near a huge road like that? Unfortunately, as we all know,
once a road is widened, traffic increases to fill it, and we can't widen roads