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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCitizen Comment 091224Eric Atchison 25 Chemin Court Vice President and Treasurer of the Chemin Court Property Owners Association Good afternoon, I concur fully with my neighbors and friends before you today that the proposed rezoning of the southeast and southwest corners of Highway 10 and Chalamont Drive from R-2 (Residential Low Density) to C-1 (Neighborhood Commercial) and OS (Open Space) presents serious concerns for the residents of Chemin and all Chalamont neighborhoods, as well as significant public safety issues. Use of Sidewalks — While they could not be here today, I'd like to introduce you to the rest of my family. This is my spouse, Delanie, and our three children, Olivia, Jackson, and Hazel. This is a picture I took on the first day of school and while most pictures shared from the first day of school have children smiling in front of their home with an announcement of the grade they are entering, I think this picture epitomizes that first day perfectly. We purchased our home five years ago with the intent of providing our children with the opportunity to live in a safe neighborhood in close proximity to the schools. Our children walk with pride to Robinson Elementary and appreciate having a safe route which is monitored by the Pulaski County Sheriffs Office. This rezoning would complicate traffic patterns and bring increased danger to us and our law enforcement officials. In case you need a reminder, just a year ago on August 14, school resource officer, Victor Montgomery, was fatally struck when directing traffic in front of Robinson Elementary. Our family is by no means the only Chemin and Chalamont Drive neighborhood residents that utilize a safe pathway every day. Numerous neighbors go for daily walks, bring their pets along, and jog the established sidewalk path. In fact, many mornings, the cross-country team members from Joe T. Robinson High School utilize Chalamont Drive's sidewalks to run before school starts. Rezoning would increase traffic in an already heavily trafficked area and in our meeting with PotlatchDeltic we were told that they would add entrances on Chalamont into the developed property. This causes grave concern as it would break up the uninterrupted pathway and cause additional congestion and add substantial opportunity for accidents, injury, and death. When I told our children this morning that dad was coming here to speak to you today, my son's immediate reaction was, "what's going to happen to the rabbits and squirrels?" I agree with him 100%. When the storage unit construction began on the north side of Cantrell several months ago, we immediately saw an influx of wildlife to our backyard. Continuous development along a corridor like Cantrell Road will interrupt the natural landscape and wildlife that also calls our city home. We pride ourselves as being the Natural State, but this rezoning request would degrade the natural landscape and go against the Little Rock Future Land Use Plan to protect urban forests and natural areas. Deceptive Business Practices —As a resident of the Chenal Valley POA, each month I receive Chenal Magazine which prominently features a map of the entire Chenal Valley development district. On t1h e map in LaLle magazine and also onlin e on the Chenai Vaiiey website, the land under consideration by you today has been shaded in a dark blue color representing "Commercial Available". It angers me to know that PotlatchDeltic would advertise these tracts as commercial before receiving Planning Commission approval. Additionally, I question why the land was established as R-2 originally, if the long-term plan would be the have commercial property on this site. It appears to me that PotlatchDeltic allowed this land to sit untouched during the construction of the residential neighborhoods to ensure the lots were sold and homes built with this backdrop and then decide to rezone. Labelling property as "Commercial Available" and delaying rezoning until residential properties are near the end of construction can be considered deceptive and they do not deserve an approval for rezoning. Public Service — I'd like to close by commending you for your service on the Little Rock Planning Commission. I know you have a difficult task at each commission meeting to make decisions that impact the daily lives of so many. But I urge you to remember that not all change is an improvement and there are countless commercial properties that are vacant across Little Rock. We do not need commercial density around our neighborhood schools and doing so will have a negative impact on our community. I, along with my spouse and children, and on behalf of the Chemin Court residents who could not join us today, respectfully urge the City of Little Rock to reject this rezoning proposal. Regarding the September 12, 2024 Meeting of the Little Rock Planning Commission (Item Number: 11, File Number: LU2024-19-01) Chemin Court Property Owners Association members, along with other neighborhoods, have had to quickly gather to become aware of possible rezoning and express our concerns and recommendations. They are significant and urgent. PotlatchDeltic's mission speaks of commitment to improve the communities where we live, work, and play. Their core values highlight "safety" and "community". Potlatch Delta proudly declares that "corporate citizenship" and "community responsibility" are not just "lip service". Thus, they invest to "strengthen our communities through charitable giving, focusing on local impact." Therefore, we want to communicate and work with PotlatchDeltic to align their goals, interests and values with those of our neighborhood, every neighborhood along Chalamont Drive, and the three adjacent schools which are all impacted. We strongly recommend PotlatchDeltic rescind their proposal to rezone these tracts due to the negative local impact to the Chalamont community and neighbors. Should PotlatchDeltic refuse to rescind the rezoning application, we strongly recommend the Little Rock Planning Commission to vote against this proposal. We are basing our recommendations on the below considerations that directly impact our community's safety and degrade the established ecosystem surrounding Chemin Court. List of Concerns 1. SAFETY - The proposed rezoning development would result in two commercial property entrances/streets on Chalamont Drive. This would increase the traffic danger and risks to school children and families walking to and from Robinson Elementary School, Robinson Middle School, and Robinson High School. Creating increased development density and congestion in a section of the city dedicated to educating our children would be detrimental to students, parents, and the community as a whole. 2. SAFETY - The proposed rezoning development of two commercial property entrances/streets on Chalamont Drive would also increase the traffic danger and risks to school children and families driving to and from school. Highway 10 / Cantrell Road traffic dangers were brought to the forefront of the Little Rock community last year on August 14 when security officer, Victor Montgomery, was fatally struck when directing traffic in front of Robinson Elementary. 3. SAFETY - The proposed rezoning increases dangers and risks to any drivers, bike riders, walkers, and joggers on a heavily used greenbelt recreation path on Chalamont Drive, which is a hallmark asset of all neighborhoods along Chalamont Drive. 4. TRAFFIC - Unnecessary additional streets result in unnecessary and increased turns across traffic and with traffic. School time traffic on Highway 10 / Cantrell Road is already severely congested. New commercial property entrances on Chalamont near Cantrell will further clog and frustrate neighborhood citizens and school families. Page 1 of 2 Regarding the September 12, 2024 Meeting of the Little Rock Planning Commission (Item Number: 11, File Number: LU2024-19-01) 5. COMPROMISED RECREATION - The reduced length of greenbelt recreation path along Chalamont impacts elderly residents in Chemin Court who primarily utilize the sidewalk from Chemin Lane to Cantrell Road and also impacts hundreds of residents from all Chalamont Drive neighborhoods who walk, jog, and bike the full route. 6. FUTURE VENDOR POSSIBILITIES - Rezoning to Neighborhood Commercial could include businesses that would not "improve the community", such as a bank, tobacco store, Medical marijuana dispensary, brewery, convenience store with gas pumps, mobile canteen units, treatment establishineiit fur addiction or psychiatric patients. 7. LOSS OF PRIVACY & SECURITY - Clearance of land for development and subsequent commercial parking lots create and increase undesirable noise pollution from customers, delivery trucks, and trash trucks along with undesirable close pedestrian access through the buffer zone to homeowner's back yards and homes. 8. LOSS OF TREED NATURAL SPACE AND VIEW - Few trees in the proposed rezoning tracts are evergreen and sparse winter foliage of a thin remaining limited wooded buffer will ruin the forest view of homes, expose the neighborhood to the Highway 10 / Cantrell Road corridor, and degrade the ecosystem established. Misalignment with the City of Little Rock Future Land Use Plan Further, the Development Principles outlined in the City of Little Rock Future Land Use Plan for Chenal (District 19, page 40) clearly state the intent to: Preservation and maintenance of greenways and open spaces, Ensuring the preservation of significant environmental features and functions, Conservation of significant landscapes, views and vistas, Protecting natural areas and systU1 s, a11d Protecting urban forests. The rezoning application for consideration before you today goes against each of these principles and further deteriorates the remaining natural landscape along _Cantrell_ Road- -/ Highway 10. Recommendations 1. Minimize impacts on school zones and neighborhoods by preserving greenspace, privacy and a peaceful pathway along Chalamont by cancelling or denying the rezoning request. 2. Protect school and traffic safety by insisting that no parking lot street entrances are placed onto Chalamont Drive to complicate travel and interrupt heavily used sidewalks. 3. We welcome creative options for Potlatch Deltic to realize monetary and community - enhancing value from their land along Highway 10 / Cantrell Road. Page 2 of 2 0 3 3 lit Ul I®