HomeMy WebLinkAboutHABITAT SKYLINE SUBDIVISION - BASIC DEVELOPMENT REVIEW - BDR160015 - CORRESPONDENCE - CITIZEN COMMUNICATIONTed Shepard
From: William Fairbank <fairbank@mail.colostate.edu>
Sent: Saturday, October 01, 2016 11:44 PM
To: Ted Shepard; Gerry Horak
Subject: Comments on the proposed Habitat House @ Westminster Presbyterian Church
Attachments: LIHTC_spiIlovers. pdf; Rearside yard definition.png; City Code church side yard
requirement.png
Hello Ted,
I would like to enter two comments in the public comments on this subdivision of the Westminster Presbyterian Church
lot to accommodate a Habitat house.
(1) As I read the City Code, I see that for a church lot on a corner, a minimum setback is required on the complete back
of the property of 15 feet, and a setback of 25 feet is required on the complete side of the lot. It seems to me that this
subdivided lot is being placed in both of these setbacks that are designed to provide protection for neighbors.
See the attached portions of the City Code.
(2) Neighbors of the church property bought their homes for fair market prices under the expectation that their
neighbor on this property would be a church. Now the church is not only subdividing the property, but is plopping down
a smaller prefabricated home of much lesser quality and value on a lot of the bare minimum size of 6003 sq. ft., in a
neighborhood where lots are around 10,000 sq. ft. and higher.
A recent study by Rebecca Diamond, a professor at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, has shown
what is obvious to anyone with common sense, that low income housing placed in a middle-class neighborhood does
cause a decrease in value for neighboring homes within 500 ft. and that low income housing placed in a poor
neighborhood increases the value of neighboring houses. Her scientific paper is attached. Surely the houses closest to
the Habitat house, i.e., that owned by Sammy Geist and her immediate neighbors on Skyline Drive and Clearview Ct.
(one of which we own is the one immediately behind Ms. Geist) will have an even greater detrimental increment than
the average over 500 ft., with a larger loss in value the closer the house is to the Habitat home. We in this
neighborhood, who have worked hard to preserve our region of the Avery Park Neighborhood from the spate of
uncaring absentee investors, are very concerned by the impact of this development on perceived housing quality and
value in the immediate area. There is much empathy in this neighborhood for the plight of Ms. Geist.
This subdivision is harmful to Ms. Geist and her immediate neighbors.
The City of Fort Collins should do better by its citizens to protect them from neighbors such as this church whose
developments cause substantial harm to those in the surrounding area. It is one thing to have a city policy to build in
low income housing into a new development. Then the buyers know exactly what they are buying. It is quite another
thing to plop low income housing down in an established neighborhood with no chance for the neighbors to protect
their interests.
Bill Fairbank
copy to Councilmember Gerry Horak