Concern over rezoning
I did not attend the Board of Directors meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 4, but I did watch it on TV.
I am concerned regarding the rezoning of property on the corner of North Mount Olive and East Helena to allow a nine-unit apartment complex to be constructed. I'm in agreement with the homeowners who were there voicing their concerns. It seems they did their due diligence in looking for a neighborhood that was residential and a good place to raise a family or just to have a nice neighborhood in which to live.
I live on the corner of East Helena and North Madison which is just about a block east of the property in question, and I can tell you that the board members who spoke after the homeowners seemed concerned and wanted to hear more about the proposition before making any decisions.
I would ask that all the board members take the time to drive down East Helena at different times of the day to get a feel for the traffic issues and to see just how narrow the street is. I also agree that the city needs to look into the drainage issues. I personally feel that this property is not the best place to plop a nine-unit complex. Also, if the garage area is to the back of the units and access would be off East Helena I feel this would just create a nightmare. I would hope that the board does their homework and really studies every aspect of this proposition. Instead of an apartment complex why doesn't the contractor build several nice homes?
On another note, I feel Mayor Turner was somewhat rude to Bobby Reed, who was the last homeowner to approach the podium to state his opinion. I believe the gist of the Mayor's comment was that if Bobby was just stating what the other homeowners had said then there really wasn't time. I understand there are time restraints to these meetings but Mr. Reed was already at the podium and I was interested in what he had to say, not Mayor Turner's interpretation of what he thought Mr. Reed wished to say. After all, Mr. Reed felt the importance of the situation and took the time out of his evening to attend the meeting.
Jan Little
Siloam Springs
Editorial on 09/19/2018