B-09 Citizen Comments.pdf — original pdf

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From: Scott Collier < Sent: Sunday, October 24, 2021 11:53 AM To: Cc: Chelsea Collier <mm>; DSD Land Management <LandManagement@austintexas.gov> Subject: Harvey Street vacation objection - File No. 2021-047001 *** External Email - Exercise Caution *** Pam - Thank you for your time on the phone last week sharing your client's position regarding the Harvey Street vacation request they have filed. After considering our discussion, my wife Chelsea (copied here) and I have decided to oppose the vacation. To reiterate, my concerns regarding the vacation are as follows: 1) Once the Harvey right of way is vacated, your client intends to purchase and thus control the property, but as a resident on Sol Wilson for years now, I would say your client has mostly been a bad neighbor. The properties they already control are poorly maintained with a ragged chain link fence, shabby sheet metal that frequently gets tagged with graffiti, and trash and various discarded items including chemical barrels that are presumably from the Shaw automotive garage previously on the property (see the photos attached, taken from my front yard). We have several times over the years called in COA code compliance complaints to get the property mowed. To be fair, the property owners have been mostly responsive to those complaints and the mowing situation at least has been better in recent months. However, overall if the current owner is so negligent with their current property, I don't find it credible that they will take better care of the property if this vacation is granted and they buy the land. Those mysterious black barrels sit on land they already own. 2) You have said that your client has no specific plans for these properties but would like to develop them, including what is now the Harvey right of way, to be beneficial to the community. As I said on the phone, I don't see that anything built on that lot would benefit the community as we already have too many cars driving and parking on Sol Wilson given it is one of two means of access to the large Elm Ridge apartment complex . Furthermore, Elm Ridge provides inadequate visitor parking, despite having plenty of spaces, and I suspect someone makes money aggressively towing from their lot, so visitors that are in the know line the street in front of our house. Nothing built on the lots in question would help that parking situation, and in fact cutting Harvey through the right-of-way in question to 12th street would reduce traffic on Sol Wilson. As I mentioned on our call, Sol Wilson is a heavily traveled pedestrian area as we often see Elm Ridge kids and families walking to and from Oak Springs elementary school, and the car traffic is already unsafe for these children given this is an old neighborhood with no sidewalks. 3) As I mentioned on the phone, there are plans in the works to extend Harvey Street and add utilities to build on 5 undeveloped lots there (link to COA plans here) . Development on those lots will of course add to the traffic on Sol Wilson in front of our house given it is currently the only means of access. As such, it is my strong preference to see the vacation not granted and Harvey Street cut through on the right-of-way all the way to 12th street as shown on this map. Regards, Scott Collier We received a notificatiation file # 2021-047001 in regards to Harvey St. We oppose this filing. As you can see on the attached image of Harvey st. This was platted in 1946 and this extension of Harvey st was never completed. It is a legal public st, when we develop it has the right to the access of Harvey St, Sol Wilson, Oak Grove, 12th st. and all of the other public legal streets in the city of Austin. Extending Harvey St is a legal and public right endeavour that is fundamental to our project. Please let us know if any documents or further information is required to show file # 2021-047001 needs to be opposed. To Whom It May Concern Oam Parkash Harvey St LLC 5129450788 We hope to get this resolved as soon as possible. Look forward to hearing from you soon