Planning Commission Recommends Denial

Planning Commission reopened its public hearing last night to allow citizens to comment on the developers' latest plan for NeNo. (Above, Damien Farrell and Bill Godfrey answer questions). Thanks to all 17 (!) speakers who opposed to the project.

The revised plan would demolish the 3 northernmost houses, as requested by Planning Commission at its May meeting. It also expanded the rear setbacks, as requested in our May letter to Planning Commission.

Unfortunately, as our speakers pointed out, the developers just moved that space to the front of the main building. It's now more supersized than ever, towering 55 feet above Main Street. The plan still calls for a new retail space that's contrary to all planning for this block, and detracts from the PUD's intended purpose--it would put a liquor store inside a building housing a vulnerable population!

And of course the core problem remains: the project would rip open the fabric of an intact residential block. In the words of Commisioner Eppie Potts, it will create a "new edge" from which future developments will encroach on our now-fragmented neighborhood.

Planning staff recommended DENYING the PUD zoning and site plan. Their report concluded that NeNo would have limited benefits, would have a detrimental effect on surrounding properties, and that it needlessly violates the Central Area Plan. Click here to read their full report.

The bad news: only two commissioners heeded the staff recommendation. Both Potts and Kirk Westphal clearly articulated how far NeNo deviates from what the site's zoning and planning would permit, and the enormous damage it would do to the "scale and character" of the neighborhood.

As noted in an earlier posting, the "workforce" units will actually be much more expensive than existing housing in the neighborhood. At the hearing, we cited evidence from a rentlinx.com search that found more than 800 units within a mile of the site that meet the developers' definition of "affordable"--renting for less than $774 per resident per month.

Unfortunately, the other five commissioners present either missed or doubted the information provided by their staff and the neighbors. Their comments showed they'd accepted the false choice offered by the developers, and believed that failing to approve this project would hurt the homeless and the working poor.

On the contrary, we believe that both populations would be poorly served by this expensive boondoggle, and that the government money spent on it could benefit many more people at a less expensive, less hilly site. We'll expand on this in a future post.

The good news: with pro-NeNo Commissioner Tony Derezinski absent, the project's proponents still fell one vote short of the majority needed to recommend the project. It will go to City Council with a recommendation for Denial.