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Show Rossi Hill Wants Neighborhood Down zoned There are also aesthetic and social issues surrounding surround-ing the request. Unlike many areas in old town, McHenry Ave. is very much still a neighborhood. Its residents are primarily families who interact closely with one another on a daily basis. They work together to improve their area and last summer built a, small community com-munity park in their neighborhood. neigh-borhood. Wintzer said the nightly rental and timeshare restric tions are being requested to preserve the neighborhood feeling on Rossi Hill. "I want to know who my neighbors are," Wintzer concludes she and her neighbors feel the lot, setback and height restrictions restric-tions will only improve the quality of the area as well as property values. Ligety said a public hearing on the resident's request will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 23 at Marsac. A group of Rossi Hill residents led by Mary Wintzer Wint-zer has applied to have their neighborhood rezoned for safety and aesthetic reasons. The application, submitted before Planning Director Bill Ligety last week, asks that residential construction along McHenry Ave. on top of Rossi Hill be restricted to single family dwellings. Additionally Ad-ditionally the petition asks a two lot minimum be established estab-lished for single family houses and that nightly rentals be excluded in the neighborhood. The group also wants time sharing strictly prohibited and front yard setbacks moved from 15 to 20 feet. The residents also want the maximum building height reduced along the street from 28 to 25 feet. Mary Wintzer told the Record about 20 property owners would be affected by the rezoning proposal. She said she has the support of at least ten at this point and is in the process of contacting other owners who live outside the area. "Everyone I've talked to seems to be in favor of the move so far," she said. Wintzer points out r : - McHenry is a narrow dead end street that is accessed only by Rossi Hill Dr. which is steep and equally narrow. She said the street has been impassable at times during the winter and adds she and her neighbors fear increased development in the area will only make matters worse. "If everyone built to the maximum allowed under the current zoning," she said, "the street would always be clogged with cars, restricting the access of emergency vehicles as well as our own cars." Wintzer concludes potential poten-tial traffic congestion alor.g McHenry is the primary reason behind the requested downzone. Current zoning allows single family residents on a lot and a half and duplexes and triplexes on two lots or more. However, proposed revisions in the area could see single family lots permitted permit-ted on single lots and front yard setbacks reduced from 15 to 10 ft. Wintzer feels the 10ft. proposed setbacks are inadequate inade-quate and would only provide pro-vide an incentive for resi-dents resi-dents to park in the street. |