Alva Review-Courier -

Though the reasons varied, Alva residents who live on or adjacent to Young Street were in agreement Monday evening. They don't want the proposed Young Street Six addition in their neighborhood. The plat as presented to the Alva Planning Commission puts six single family houses on two lots bordering the street and some additional land behind. Around two dozen people attended the Jan. 28 meeting.

Commission Chair Christie Kornele moved up the comments section of the agenda so visitors could speak before the commission voted. Other commission members Meagan Caldwell, Matt Adair, Charles Murrow, Mary Hamilton and Bryant Gingrich were all present. Also attending were Mayor Kelly Parker and City Business Manager Joe Don Dunham.

Kornele read a report by Dunham on his conversation with engineers about the proposed addition. Among the requirements for the RG8 or RM8 zoning for one-family dwellings is a lot size of 8,000 square feet, lot width of 60 feet, minimum front yard of 20 feet, and two off street parking spaces per dwelling.

Dunham concluded there were two options for the commission: to deny the request or to conditionally approve the request.

If they denied the request, the justification would be that lot size does not meet the square foot minimum as defined by the Alva Code of Ordinances, the lot width does not conform to the code minimum and there is not adequate off-street parking per dwelling. He stated other issues are not preserving the openness of the living areas, possibly allowing overcrowding, not providing for access of light and air to windows and for privacy.

Dunham said if the commission conditionally approved the request, all of the above deficiencies would need to be corrected.

He said the builders, Left Frame LLC, have the option to change their development plan to conform to city codes or they can apply to the Board of Adjustments for a variance from the city code.

Ross Phillips

First to speak was Ross Phillips who addressed lot sizes. He said the proposal shows two lots that are only 4,121 square feet while housing in RG8 requires 8,000 square feet. One lot is 4,400, one is 6,600 and another 6,050. He said Left Frame owns two lots of records and then they own a 110-by-115-foot tract behind those.

"They combined those front two lots to make a 75 by 110, which would make that a legal lot," he said. "But that also deprives them of a house on those two lots."

He said access was also a problem. "I don't see any way they're going to do it unless they buy land from the Nelson Addition to the south and bring a street in because those two properties behind would not be on the street."

Phillips concluded, "Nothing in this proposal meets code, nothing!"

Kenny King

Kenny King began with a question about the city hiring the same company Left Frame was using as a consultant.

Mayor Parker said, "We use three different engineering firms in the City of Alva. One of them is Crafton Tull, and that is presently only for the purposes of the strategic land use task force." Crafton Tull is also being used by Left Frame.

"It is a different part of that firm than the engineering firm. We're using the city planning part of that firm and not the construction and industry side of that firm," said Parker.

"Kenny, I asked the same question at city council because I was under the impression from our meetings that we were using the same company," said Hamilton. She said it was explained that the city is using the same firm but for a different purpose altogether.

King didn't seem convinced, "Well, that's an explanation. But I just don't think that's a good idea."

"The aura of improper business is great, in my opinion," he added, mentioning the possibility of closed door discussions in non-public meetings.

Parker assured him that public meetings will be held on the strategic land use project on which Crafton Tull is consulting. "We're going to make sure this is transparent and that there are no behind the scenes anything going on," said the mayor.

Adair clarified that Dunham "reached out to the other engineer the city uses for recommendations" on the proposed housing addition.

Tim Bodenschatz

"I live up on Young Street next to Kelly Parker," said Tim Bodenschatz. "The street is going to get more traffic (from adding six houses), and we've got plenty of traffic now."

He discussed vehicles speeding at 30 to 40 mph and kids walking to school in the area. He said he walks his dog in the morning, afternoon and evening, "and they're still going – zip, zip, zip, zip. It's busy."

Parker asked for a show of hands of those who agreed with the advice to deny or to have the developers conform to the city code. But people weren't through voicing their concerns.

Phillips said the only thing he didn't hear mentioned was drainage. "The way they're going to cover the property will not allow for proper drainage."

King asked how many of the commission members had actually walked to the back side of the proposed addition "to see the drainage issue where it comes down onto the addition that I live in? There's just nothing there. It goes straight down at that lift station."

Bodenschatz said they could drive down and see where all the water runs. "There's mud," added King.

Jay Herning

Jay Herning said he and his wife live on Young Street. He said they have to be careful when backing vehicles out onto the street. "There's people going up and down too fast, and they park on both sides of the street, and it's real narrow."

Herning said they walked down to see the drainage problem. "It's all eroded; a bunch of dirt running off to the west." He concluded, "It's just going to be a mess. I'd like to see us deny the whole thing. Go put it someplace else."

Tom Crenshaw

Reading from a statement given at the Board of Adjustments meeting on the same housing addition, Tom Crenshaw said that traffic is one of the biggest issues. He also expressed concern about the added volume of six families "hitting the waterline right there." He said it would affect the water pressure.

As one of the bordering neighbors, Crenshaw was also bothered by the erosion created by the developers leveling their property, "erosion from my property and erosion onto my property, Forrest Nelson's property, Schrock's property." He said they built the back of the property up "two to two and one-half feet higher than all of the surrounding land." He said it would cause a big runoff of water.

Crenshaw was also concerned what would happen to the property if the city turned down the proposed addition. If they decided not to build the project, he expressed hope they would put the property back the way it was before.

"I don't think anybody here is going to complain if they meet RG8 conformity," Crenshaw said. He said they liked having the old house torn down, "it was an eyesore."

"There's a reason why frontage is included in things for lots," concluded Crenshaw. "They're going to have to have a lot of frontage to put that many houses in there, which they don't have."

Kelly Schrock

"Fact, it doesn't have enough frontage," said Kelly Schrock. "Fact, there is enough frontage for one house. If he goes to get a variance from the adjustment board, he'd have to get a variance to put in two houses.

"Fact, he's got to have 8,000 square feet per residence for a single family house in RG8.

"We've been fighting this since I've been in shorts, and now I'm wearing a jacket. I strongly urge this board to deny it just on the facts," said Schrock.

There was some discussion about the possibility of obtaining a variance, but King said, "This would open up a can of worms."

Forrest Nelson

Kat Lunn

Planning Commission Chair Christie Kornele (center) reads the recommendation from consulting with an engineer on the Young Street Six housing addition. At far left is Mayor Kelly Parker with City Business Manager Joe Don Dunham in front. At right are Meagan Caldwell and Matt Adair.

"I wonder who's going to be responsible to alleviate the drainage problem that goes across my property," said Forrest Nelson. "The mud and water has washed down toward the lift station. The city can't even get to the lift station right now with a four-wheel drive vehicle. There's so much mud they can't even get down in there."

He added, "This property needs to be put back to its original condition to alleviate the water drainage problem."

Commission Vote

At the close of the discussion, Hamilton looked to the crowd and said, "Thank you guys for doing your homework. I'm impressed by how much you guys have researched." Her comment was met with applause from the audience.

Kornele stated the matter being considered, calling for discussion or action. Hamilton said, "I move to deny the Young Street Six housing addition." The motion was seconded by Murrow and approved unanimously by the commission.

A video of the complete meeting may be viewed at http://www.AlvaReviewCourier.com.