A Tale of Two Cities

A Tale of Two Cities

Suburban Hill Sprawl vs Urban Valley Density

This pastoral landscape is soon to be history.  Plans to build an aparatment
building in that small space ahead are currently under way.

My drama begins September 28, 2017 at the Englewood Planning Board Meeting with a denial of an East Hill Application, 
#2016-9. 

Imagine an apartment building in the middle of this fork in
the road that is also a busy school bus route.

The Brayton Estate LLC. Sub division application sought to divide 161 Brayton Street’s, 1st ward, $9 million dollars property into (2) single family residences. The opposing attorney successfully argued, in a nut shell, that such an act would violate the city’s Master Plan by failing to maintain the character of the neighborhood. The Board agreed. 

Coming soon, an apartment building on stilts.
The next two discussions applied to applications for down the hill, across the tracks in the 4th Ward. 

The Claremont Properties discussion,#2017-8, 40 Bennett Rd. and 51 Lafayette Place, was about building a multi -family residential unit which would incorporate the taking of part of an active city street (Elmore Ave). 

Elmore Ave. facing north is for sale!!!!
This project will not move forward without the city selling off another city street in the 4th ward.

There was no opposing attorney. But, there were several residents from the Elmore Ave community in attendance. The applicant and the Board’s presentation and concerns were centered around ‘set backs’, the space between the curb and the building and landscaping. The residents spoke about ‘quality of life’, the elimination of a part of Elmore Ave. and neighborhood…

This Application proposes to 

The proposed building will extend all the way over to Bennett
Rd.

build a structure bordering Bennett Rd, Englewood Ave (incorporating a part of Elmore Ave.) and Lafayette Pl. adding an additional 99 units to a street/neighborhood/Ward which already has:

• Town Center (320 units)
• Lincoln School project (188 units)
• a construction site on the corner of Green St
• a new residence at the corner of Oak St.
• proposed project at 50 E. Palisade Ave.
• a multi-family dwelling proposed for the Mitchell Simon property (100 units) on Dean St.
• an inquiry into Redeveloping the First Student bus depot/Linden Ave on So. Dean St. (which was on this same agenda)

Note: this board has already approved a sub-division for 256 Hirliman Rd. # 2016-15. (also 4th Ward. )
The Board ‘denied’ the expansion on Brayton St. Let’s see if they will ‘continue’ with the ‘Urbanization’ of the 4th Ward…….

The Tale Continues: On October 5, 2017…….