Meeting with St. Johns Village developer
Mike Balanky, developer of the St. Johns Village project, met with a group of Fairfax Manor neighbors last night to discuss the latest on his project. The Planning Commission voted against the project last Thursday 5-4 and the Land Use Zoning Committee was to vote on it tonight. Balanky requested a two-week deferral, so the vote will now be on March 21st, with the full City Council voting on it March 28th.
Based on the feedback he has received, Mike has lowered the building from 21 stories at it's tallest point down to 17 (including the parking garage underneath). He has reduced the number of units from 150 to 125. I think he has made a good faith effort to please those impacted by the project. The folks who live on Dupont, Arden, and Greenwood have made the most noise about it. However, other than the folks on Dupont, the people who live in my neighborhood on Woodmere will be the most impacted. Why? Because they are going to be looking at it across the creek from their backyards. Everyone in attendance last night who lives on Woodmere were satisfied with the revised plans. I think everyone agrees the existing Commander Apartments are ugly. The new building will be all of 5 feet taller than the existing, and it will sit 40 feet off of the property line, versus the current 20 feet.
But there are those who are oppsed to it and will never will be happy. For some reason, I think they think someone is going to come in and tear down the Commander and build 4 story townhomes. Not going to happen. The economics just won't allow for it. My position is that Balanky has listened to the neighborhood, and has made good faith efforts to please everyone. If his deal gets shot down, the next developer might not be so willing to compromise. The parcel is zoned high density residential, and that's not going to change. True there is now a moratorium on high rise construction, but this project is grandfathered in, and the owners of the land have other developers that will be happy to take over if Balanky fails.
Of course, everyone agrees the increased density will have an impact on local traffic. But then again, I don't think they were up in arms with Villa Riva or the condos going in at the end of Herschel. Just another case of NIMBY (not in my backyard).
I hope Balanky succeeds. I think the new development will be good for property values and will aesthetically enhance the area. But most of all, I know that something is going to happen to that parcel, and I appreciate that he has worked with the community to make it something we will all be proud of.