4 Apartments & A 2,900ft Office Building
All On A 1/2 Acre Lot In The Historic District

PARKING

Most people that rent a 3 bedroom townhome are going to have 3 cars. 2 parents and a teenage driver. OR Tenants will use half or all of their garage for storage. Where else are they going to store their bikes/strollers/etc?

 

I would assume a commercial building that size 2900 sq ft with 2 separate businesses in it would have at least 4 employees each?

So, If you take up 8 of those stalls with employees that leaves 3 stalls for customers for 2 separate businesses.

That is not enough.

 

Now, where do the tenants' 2nd and 3rd cars park if their garage is full of storage? Where do the townhome tenants' friends and visitors park?I'll tell you where. Out on Santa Clara Drive. With this project alone, there will now be cars parked down Santa Clara Dr and wrapping around the blocks. CONSTANTLY.  Can you imagine if I built a similar project on my property and added to the cars needing to line the streets for parking? This will cause the next developer to see how much you're allowed to pack into these lots and want to duplicate the project to make the most return.

 

Next, DESIGN

 

The commercial building does not look historical in any way, shape, or form. It does not fit in with historic Santa Clara. BUT, It is a nice looking building. Would I have preferred it to look older and charming like the rest of Santa Clara Drive? Yes, but it's the least of my worries.

 

Because the design of these townhomes has no concrete pad outside of their garages to park (the developers could not fit that in because it would obstruct the two-way driveway access to get to the back parking lot), there will be no space for the owner's 2nd or 3rd car, plus any visitors. Most likely their garages will (at minimum) be half way full of storage. Where else will tenants' store their bikes, strollers, etc.?

 

These townhomes have NO back patio or yard. 

Their BBQ hookup is out FRONT, meaning they will be BBQing out front and storing kids toys and stuff that normally goes on a back patio out FRONT. This will end up looking messy.

 

Patrons of the commercial building and handicap will need to pass by these front patios filled with BBQs, furniture, toys, etc.

 

We all know what this means...

 

In no time, these townhomes will look messy, sloppy and trashy and so will the streets of Santa Clara.

 

I will be forced to put up a block wall to block out the mess or join in the disaster and build my own townhomes.

 

Local driveways will have gates and NO PARKING signs everywhere.

 

I will need to install a gate out front of my property to keep their tenants from parking on my property every night. Is that the look we want for Santa Clara Drive?
 

Developers will cut down 60 year old trees on the property so that they can fit the maximum amount of townhomes to make more money.

 

I'll end up having conflict with their patrons/customers unknowingly parking on my property  

 

More and more people will build projects JUST like this one! I mean, why wouldn't you? If one gets in, there is a guarantee that more will come. 

 

Is this what we want for Santa Clara?

 

I am not against developing. At all. I love to see growth and improvements in Santa Clara. 

 

My issue with this project is that 4 townhomes and 2 commercial businesses on that size property is excessive. And by the way this one is designed, it will end up looking sloppy the moment people move in. 

 

I would have no problem with the commercial building and 2 townhomes. This might allow each townhome to have a cement pad out front for extra parking and a back patio for storage and BBQing. 

 

I feel this project is EXTREME high density and the July 26 approval needs to be reconsidered.

 

If projects like this continue to get approved, people like me will stop caring to keep Santa Clara Drive the charming, beautiful street it is now. The reality is, restaurants and shops like mine are more challenging of an investment than rentals. My husband and I have several rentals in Washington County and are familiar with the profit that comes from them.

 

At what point do we aim to preserve this historic drive rather than strictly focusing on profitability? At the rate we are headed, the entire street will eventually be tightly packed with rentals. Is the focus of Santa Clara's Historic District for profit or preservation?

 

I hope that I have been able to shed some light on my perspective of what the future for Santa Clara Drive will look like if we allow the building of these FOUR townhomes.

 

WHAT CAN WE DO?

-write in to the city offices 

-speak out as a large group and show the city council we care 

-gather together/show up to planning + zoning meetings 

-spread the word (please share this website with anyone you know that cares) 

 

Thank you for you time in reading this,

 

April Hickman