03 C14-2022-0107 Vargas Mixed Use; District 3 Part 2 — original pdf

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Our position is that Saxon Lane lacks the connectivity requirements to support ground-floor pedestrian oriented commercial space, the traffic along this roadway is very low, and the necessary visibility to attract these uses is non-existent. Therefore, we respectfully request consideration to not mandate ground-floor pedestrian oriented uses with this rezoning. Vargas Road – This road is a neighborhood collector and is the only road that connects US 183 with Montopolis Road. Directly across Vargas Road from the subject property is a small day care and a city park. Next to the park is Allison Elementary School. Both sides of Vargas Road have single-family homes with the exception of two areas – 1) Closer to E. Riverside Drive are more dense apartments and an Idea School – all of which are proximate to the future Blue Line of Project Connect, 2) The intersection of Vargas Road and Felix Avenue is a node for very small, neighborhood oriented commercial spaces. The buildings are one-story, small in size and on small parcels. Most of these buildings are boarded up with no commercial activity. Most older neighborhoods were developed with these types of nodes interior to the neighborhood, and this is how pedestrian oriented uses should be planned – interior to the neighborhood with neighborhood serving uses. However, it is clear that there is simply not enough economic viability for the uses to survive with most of the spaces having been vacant for many years. Our position is that if pedestrian oriented commercial spaces were to be viable in the area, the intersection of Vargas Road and Felix Avenue is the prime spot for those commercial uses and that intersection should be maintained as an option for those types of uses to come back in the future. Therefore, we respectfully request consideration to not mandating ground-floor pedestrian oriented uses with this rezoning as a hope to bring back the much coveted, interior neighborhood serving commercial space which should be a priority. South-West Corner