Ask for Guidance - Letter to Mayor and Council Members

On Wed, Jul 28, 2010, Reid Serozi wrote:

Dear Mayor Meeker and Council Members West, Baldwin, and Stephenson,

On behalf of the Mordecai Citizens Advisory Council Residents.

I would like to ask your guidance re: the Blount Street Commons Master

Plan and a church that is currently interested in buying a prime

commercial zoned location on Peace street.

While our CAC has not adopted an official position on the church, we

have met with the planning department, talked with a representative of

LNR, the developer, and are now contacting you for help in how to

properly handle this "switch" in the developer's original vision for

the property. Originally, the master plan envisioned this parcel to be

developed as a mixed-use commercial/residential tract with street

level retail stores fronting Peace Street and residential units above.

As stated in the N&O article referenced below: "A church is not part

of the current master plan for Blount Street Commons, which is

expected to include as much as 110,000 square feet of shops and up to

495 condominiums. The land Holy Trinity is buying, directly across

from Peace College, is designated as urban lofts on the project's

master plan."

In a recent meeting with Stacy Barbour, senior planner for the

Planning Dept.,he said that the masterplan's underlying commercial

zoning would indeed allow an institution such as a church even though

the Masterplan originally presented a different scenario. And now,

according to Barbour, because the masterplan has blanket approval, the

public will have no room for input!

We understand that the economic downturn has stalled the development

of Blount Street Commons, but we have been relying on this commercial

component of the Blount Street Commons along Peace Street as promised

to act as a catalyst for the commercial revitalization of the Person

Street business  district and our area North of downtown. Though the

church may proceed forward under the current zoning, we would like to

respectfully request that members of Council revisit the master plan

with planning staff to suggest ways that the commercial aspect of the

master plan for projects along Peace Street be preserved. We also ask

if there is a way that the public could be notified in a more timely

manner when changes in the master plan are being contemplated?

Information indicates that the church may close on the property as

early as August even though no formal design plans have been submitted

to the planning department.

Please see meeting notes posted to our CAC website and also an article

which appeared on July 8,2010:

http://www.mordecaicac.org/traffic/i/updateonproposedchurchinblountstreetcommons

http://www.mordecaicac.org/traffic/i/newsobserveranglicanchurchtobuypeacestreetparcel

Your guidance in this matter would be greatly appreciated,

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Reid Serozi

Mordecai Citizens Advisory Council, Co-Chair