DRAFT Minutes of the BSCL Meeting
October 4, 2001
Prepared by: Eric Parker
Committee Reports
Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization (CPRO) (presented by Bryant Monroe): There has been no visible progress on Columbia Pike. Doug Woods, the county planner who came and spoke at an earlier meeting no longer works for the county. He has been replaced by Claude Williamson. CPRO is planning on a final vote for the plan in December or January. The county board may vote on the plan in March.
[An attendee pointed out that a light bulb cover on one of the chandelier's in the community house was close to falling off. Attendees beneath the chandelier moved.]
Neighborhood Conservation Committee (NCAC) (Presented by David Michaelson and Randy Swart): The idea of requesting NCAC funds for the purpose of putting traffic calming measures along 3rd and 4th (between Abingdon and Pershing) and Abingdon St. was presented as a motion. It would re-emphasize our desire to have the traffic issues along these streets addressed. Additionally we have been told that due to an issue with the state constitution involving the use of bond money, repairs to the community house cannot be a Neighborhood Conservation project and since the drainage project at 4th & Taylor has not been priortized by NCAC in four years, it is time to make to make the following changes in the priorities of our requests for Neighborhood Conservation Projects:
1. Traffic calming on 3rd, 4th, and S. Abingdon become our highest priority item.
2. Restoration of the community house is removed from the plan.
3. Curb & gutter restoration at 4th & Taylor becomes our second highest priority item.
A hand vote was taken and the motion passed. A letter will be sent to NCAC detailing this vote to change request priorities.
Pat Williamson announced that Our Savior Lutheran Church on S. Taylor street donated $100 of their proceeds from their annual spring yard sale to BSCL. [applause]
Variance 614 S. Taylor
Campbell Lewis, the new owner of 614 S. Taylor Street, announced that he will be resubdividing the lot into 3 lots. He would like to keep the existing house, built sometime after 1915, but requires a variance because the existing house will come within 1.8 foot of the property line for one of the new houses. County zoning restrictions require an 8' separation between the house and the property line. He requests that the Barcroft community support his requested variance, to be presented to the BZA on October 10th. He noted that failure to support the variance would require him to destroy the existing house and replace it with a new house that meets the zoning requirements. Other options exist but would take longer and cost more.
Dave Michaelson motioned that we respectfully ask Mr. Lewis to consider these other options and refrain from doing anything now. Significant discussion followed including an explanation of the zoning and variance process. A hand vote was taken. 15 persons voted for the motion, 20 persons voted against the motion.
Another motion was made that the community write a letter to the BZA stating that we support Mr. Lewis' plans with the following understanding:
- We support the variance.
- An easement is given to the new homeowners so that the future owner of the existing home will be allowed full access to the side of the home where the distance between the house and the property line will be 1.8 feet. Our concern being that the future homeowner might not be able to paint, landscape, or perform other regular maintenance on that side of the house without such an easement.
- Our only reason for agreeing to the variance is to preserve the existing older home and that Mr. Lewis agree to not tearing it down once getting variance.
A hand voted resulted in 29 persons agreeing with this motion and 9 persons opposed. As a result, the correspondence secretary will write a letter to the BZA stating the community's recommendation, with a copy of the letter going to Mr. Lewis.
Traffic Calming Report
Elaine Squeri presented the traffic calming report prepared by the Traffic Calming Committee. Briefly, the report recommends traffic calming measures along Pershing/Buchanan (speed humps) and S. Wakefield (circles). In order for the county to install these traffic calming measures all affected homeowners (409 households) must vote their approval, by petition, of these measures. Sixty percent of the households must approve in order for the traffic calming measures to be installed. Three separate petitions are required covering three separate areas of the community. A vote for the traffic calming measures is a vote for the entire project. Copies of the petitions were available at the meeting to be signed. The rest of the homes will be visited by volunteers in the upcoming weeks.
In addition to the petitions, the county also likes to see community support for the traffic calming measures. A motion was made to approve the entire report. After a discussion about humps, bumps, and various types of traffic circles, a vote was taken. With proxies included, the vote was 39 for the project and 2 opposed to the project. A letter will be written to the county informing them of the results of this vote.
Old/New Business
Kenny Harrell presented preliminary results of the traffic cut-through study.
This page was last revised on: October 10, 2001.
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