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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCathy Barnard - 585 S 4th ENovember 29, 2022 Rexburg Planning and Zoning Commission 35 N. 1st E. Rexburg, Idaho 83440 Cathy J Barnard 585 S. 4th E. Rexburg, Idaho 83440 RE: Rezone 501 E. 7th S. Application Dear Planning and Zoning Commissioners, Thank you for your service to our city and for your work and dedication to the needs of Rexburg residents as you work through the process of said rezone for said parcel. I live in Eaglewood on the boundary with said parcel. I vehemently oppose this rezone application. My husband and I bought our first home in 1989 at 272 E. 2nd S. in Rexburg. It was a beautiful neighborhood with great neighbors and we were proud to invest our life savings into fixing up our house which was built in 1929 and is considered one of the first houses built on the bench. On our block there were approximately 20 homes, all owner occupied except two homes that had a basement apartment grandfathered in. Everyone took great care of their property. Jump ahead 15 years or so and it was a completely different neighborhood. I remember my husband Corey was very active in the community and together with Don Sparhawk formed a neighborhood association in order to maintain the integrity of our fine neighborhood consisting of single-family homes. We fought and opposed all zoning changes that would have hurt the integrity and quality of our neighborhood. But it was to no avail! Even though the opposition was much stronger than the support for applicants wishing to change the zoning, the city sided with the applicant almost every time. I think the final straw occurred once the city allowed Abri apartments to go in. It happened slowly at first. We would go for walks in the winter and noticed that certain walks were no longer cleared of snow. At certain properties the grass and yardwork were not kept up any longer. Cars multiplied in driveways and streets. We had very young children at the time and because traffic was so bad on 2nd S., we couldn't let our kids play across the street. Hardly a day went by where my husband wasn't flagging someone down for traveling 50 mph in a 25 -mph zone. By 2009 there were only 11 owner occupied homes in our neighborhood. The writing was on the wall. The neighborhood where we raised our kids, and where we poured our savings and hard work into, our home, the neighborhood that we wanted to live in forever was decaying before our eyes. It was no longer a neighborhood. Now there are only five owner occupied homes on the block. All the other homes are rentals. So, when we had an opportunity to buy a new home in a single-family owner -occupied neighborhood, we did so in Eaglewood. We're so glad we did. We live right where we want to be. We take great care of our property and appreciate that our wonderful neighbors do the same. Everyone cleans their walks. Everyone takes great care on the upkeep of their property and yard. We were told when we purchased our property in Eaglewood that the acreage behind us was going to be Eaglewood II. We were told this by our realtor and people in our HOA. This parcel has been and is zoned LDR1, as it should be. Now this applicant, just like the applicant for Abri, desires to put three-story multi -family units on said parcel. Because the City changed the comprehensive plan in 2021 to LDR1-MDR1 for most unimproved residential property, the City now won't have to do the work of changing the Comprehensive Plan when an applicant applies for a rezone. With a Comprehensive Plan that now designates said parcel as LDR1- MDR1, an applicant can merely make an application for rezone without having to allow public input on a Comprehensive Plan change, thereby circumventing a constitutional process dictated by State statute. Now we have an applicant with ties to a venture capitalist in the name of Bud Holdings LLC who thinks they can get away with building multi -family units on said parcel that is currently zoned LDR1. It is ludicrous to even imagine multi -family units in a neighborhood bordered by Eaglewood, Terra Vista, and Harvest Hills. The only one who benefits is an out of State Venture Capitalist with no ties to our community other than the money they take from our city. This is your chance to do the right thing and reject this application. We don't need a visual liability staring at us all day and every day. Traffic is already so bad on S. 4th E., that we can't let our grandchildren walk around the block by themselves anymore. So please do not ruin our new neighborhood too! If we can't live in a single-family neighborhood in Eaglewood, where else is there to live in this town? Where else can we go? I urge you to please reject this application and help to preserve one of the finest single-family neighborhoods in Rexburg. Thank you all for your hard work and dedication to protecting our beautiful neighborhoods in Rexburg. Respectfully submitted, D. ? lclrkt_�11(� Cathy J. Barnard 585 S. 4th E. Rexburg. Idaho