I too should do something...
Okay- there’s a lot of “should do’s” on my list right now, but I’m still adjusting to being back to teaching and not having enough energy to work on the house at the end of the day. Today’s should do” is in the front of my brain after reading Jocelyn’s post today at Chicago Two-Flat about whether or not she should have done something to stop the house that was next door from being torn down. Our next door neighbor’s house isn’t slated to be torn down & in fact it was restored quite beautifully last year. But just next to them is a vacant lot that had one house upon it years ago. The only thing left is a few concrete stairs leading up to the overgrown lot. There are land use proposal signs posted on the lot and the next house down the street. The plan is to build three skinny houses on the lot that formerly had one house on it. I don’t hate skinny houses, but the rumor is that the plans aren’t keeping with the design of the older homes in the neighborhood. I have two major concerns. The first is that we live on a fairly steep hill and it is a possible land slide area. There is a natural spring coming from that lot and the two towards the corner. Where will the water go and will the construction make it worse? They have a sign up for comments on development in a land slide prone area and I know that they have to have people come out and do some studies on the land, but my gut says that won’t get in the way of the construction. My second concern is that the houses on our side of the street do not have off street parking. For the new houses, they will do some grading and put in off street parking, but what about when they have guests over? How can you fit parking for 5 houses on the corner of a street and still leave room before the stop sign? I imagine coming home and not being able to park near the front of our house. I’m also not looking forward to months and months of construction crews and contractors parking on the street and leaving the residents nowhere to park. I don’t think the parking will stop them from giving them a building permit, and Seattle seems to be very pro-construction. But if I don’t do anything to try to stop it, then I will regret it for as long as we live in the house. I guess I should start writing the letter, and include some pictures. Then I’ll find an afternoon to leave work early and head down to the permit department. Boy do I wish I could just tell them I think it’s a bad idea and that they would go away and build somewhere else. How come everyone doesn’t see things the same way I do??????
5 Comments
Deena·October 6, 2005
You have to comment & fight it Trissa or you’ll always regret it! Get a petition signed by all your neighbors and draw up a diagram showing the conditions on your street. You go girl!
jm·October 7, 2005
Trissa—I would definitely push back with your alderman, even if only to start the reputation that your street doesn’t suffer random development without input! Do you have an alderperson? Town council? Zoning board? Those are all good people to get to know…
amanda·October 7, 2005
Please keep us posted on what you decide to do. We’re facing a similar situation on our street. The family that built all of the houses on the block in 1915 has always lived in the massive Victorian duplex on the corner. They also owned a large parcel of undeveloped land the same width and length as our street behind our property that fronts the alley (difficult to explain without showing you.) Last fall, the last remaining member of the family fell ill and passed away and the (well-meaning?) neighbor across the street put her in touch with (shudder!) a real-estate lawyer before her death. Her house was sold immediately to a “flipper” who has actually done an incredible job with the restoration of the house (but is trying to sell for 725k in a ~350k neighborhood- interesting). I couldn’t be happier with the results. However, the parcel behind our house (all of our houses in the 500 odd block, actually) went up for sealed bid private auction last month. The developer who flipped the family home put in a bid, but we have no idea who won, or what they want to do with it. There is no off-street parking as it is (college kids and street sweeper nights make for impossible parking situation), we’re zoned R-14, and the prospects are scary. I’d love to hear how I can have some influence as to what is built… will it be in keeping with the neighborhood? How many units? What about parking? I’m so glad that other people have these problems…
Jocelyn·October 8, 2005
Speaking as someone who sat by and let them level a house and put a monster in its place, I say speak up. I am speaking up now about other teardowns. At least you will feel that you tried to make things better. I am a firm believer in community involvement and am going to start a block club on our street.
I think when that house was being torn down, I must have been tired and burned out or something to have not done something. Anyway, it’s over now and my hope is some nice people will move into those condos already.
abeatty22·October 9, 2005
I agree with your sentiments on tearing down houses. Unfortunately, the new houses rarely blend in with the existing neighborhood. We have a lot of it going on in our neighborhood and usually its by developers looking to profit, not by home owners who want a new house. What can you do, though, except live with it. In terms of the permit, you’ll need to find something that they are doing wrong — such as building too close to the property line. Otherwise the city won’t do anything. I wish you luck!