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Show Housing For I Elderly Postponed By GARY R. BLODGETT BOUNTIFUL - Residents of north Bountiful have won their battle at least for the time being of having a 3.4 acre site rezoned to allow development of a 48-unit housing complex for the elderly. BOUNTIFUL City Council postponed the rezoning request from Residential-2 to Residential-3 until December 5 to enable a . citizens' committee, working with the Davis County Housing Authority, to locate an alternate site which would be suitable for the proposed project. . The present site being considered for rezoning and will continue to be considered con-sidered until another suitable site is found and purchased is owned by the J.C. Bangerter family at the rear of 1420 North Main. THIS SITE has met with bitter opposition opposi-tion from many area residents and the petition for rezoning was recommended for denial by the City Planning Commission. Commis-sion. More than 150 residents, many of them elderly citizens, attended both meetings last week as several vigorously protested the proposed project at the North Main site. "WE ARE not against housing for the elderly," said one resident. "We know that this type of housing is needed and necessary at this time but to develop this site would create many long-lasting problems, including a continued increase in multiple housing units in our area." Joseph Everton, 260 East 1050 North, spokesman for the group, gave the council a petition with signatures of 164 home owners in the area who protest the rezoning. rezon-ing. "WE WENT through a similar rezoning battle after the area was rezoned from R-2 to R-3 several years ago," Mr. Everton told the council. Eight years ago we managed to get it rezoned back to R-2 and we don't want another rezoning now." He said most of the residents expressed concern about a rezoning setting a precedence for future multiple-housing projects. He added that the area residents were also opposed to apartment-type structures that would be two-stories high. "THIS PROPOSED project would not be conducive to the area, it is contrary to the master plan, and it is located too far from a bus line, shopping center, and the Golden Years Center," he said. He challenged the Davis County Housing Hous-ing Authority and city officials to exhaust all possible sites before making a final decision to rezone this or any property for a housing project for the elderly. MR. EVERTON also told the council that it was "improper" for the city council coun-cil to approve a rezoning before it had approved detailed plans of what will be erected on the site. "Also," he added, "this site, even if approved by the council, would have to be approved for extended housing by the city's variance commission because the proposed project exceeds the number of units per acre allowable in R-3 zoning." IN AN opening statement, however, Davis County Housing Authority Director Rosemary Davis told the group: "We're only trying to serve the needs of our elderly el-derly and have spent the past four months searching all of Bountiful for a suitable site. This is one of the few sites available." availa-ble." She noted that property owners of other "possible sites" have either not been willing to talk about selling or have asked an exorbitant price. Other sites have been within the flood-plain of the city and not acceptable under specifications of federal Housing and Urban Development (HUD), who is financing the project. OTHER SITES seriously considered by the Housing Authority included property at 1650 South Main, 2300 and 2349 South 200 West, 2600 South 200 West, 1950 South Orchard Drive, Center Street and 100 West, 1450 South Main, 1600 North 150 West and 750 South Main. Mrs. Davis explained that the proposed project will have 48 units housing approximately 54 tenants. The project will be managed by a five-member local board. THE SITE will be landscaped and will be maintained by a resident-manager. Residents will be from a mixture of incomes in-comes with rental payment being 25 percent per-cent of the resident's income. SHE SAID that if the project is developed on the Bangerter property there would be a single road from Main Street and deadending in the parking lot of the project. "There will be no dedicated street between Main Street and Orchard Drive," she said. Mrs. Davis emphasized that the proposed project on the Bangerter property does meet with the city's master plan and does fit within the guidelines of HUD by being "in a close proximity" to a shopping center, bus line and a pharmacy. phar-macy. THE HOUSING authority director also noted that vehicle traffic would be less than single-dwelling homes in the same area and that the two-story apartment buildings are so designed as to be conducive con-ducive to the rest of the residential area. She emphasized that the senior citizens ci-tizens would be long-time residents of the city, not transients; there will be no children living in the complex; there would be only 10 to 15 vehicles owned by residents; and that noise and crime would be "almost-nil." BUT A few residents at the city council public hearing said they would immediately put their homes up for sale if the rezoning is approved by the council. Alter hearing about an hour of debate from the residents, Councilman Don Perkins said: "I worked hard to get that area rezoned back to R-2 after it had been rezoned earlier for high-density housing, and I'm still not certain that this is the proper site for a housing project." OTHER COUNCIL members expressed concern for the need of a housing project for senior citizens, but agreed that further attempts should be made to find an alternate al-ternate site. Thus, following a recommendation from the planning commission the city council voted unanimously (3-0) to postpone post-pone rezoning of the Bangerter property until a further search for an alternate site is concluded. WEDNESDAY, Dec. 5, was set for a new hearing about the results of the search. The council agreed that two members of the planning commission and three citizens ci-tizens be named to the committee to work with the Daivs County Housing Authority on location of a new site. A member of the County Council on Aging will also be as-signed as-signed to the committee. j |
