Echo Park, a project brought to the commissioners by petitioner H.M. Mac Property, is projected as a multi-family residential area on the south side of town. The property will be a mix of studio and one -to-three person bedroom units, totaling 148 units when completed.
The plan commission met Monday evening to consider the changes the petitioner had made since a previous meeting on Aug. 10 — namely doing a lighting study and a traffic study to see the effects the units would have the nearby intersection of Walnut Street Pike and Winslow Road.
Since Echo Park will be constructed near Sunny Slopes neighborhood, several residents came to the meeting to express concerns with the upcoming construction of Echo Park.
“I am the president of the Sherwood Hills Homeowners Association,” David Keppel said. “I am also a cyclist and a pedestrian. I am not going to speak for or against the petitioner’s request, because we are not immediate neighbors. What remains true is that as a pedestrian and a cyclist, the greatest risk to my life is getting killed at the intersection of Walnut Street Pike and Winslow.”
The traffic study H.M. Mac Property initiated concluded traffic volume on the streets near Echo Park would only increase by 25 percent — a total of 882 vehicles per day.
One man in the audience took issue with that number and requested that a video he took Sept. 9 be shown to the commissioners. In his video, traffic in his area stood at a stand still or crept slowly along if it moved at all.
Scott Wells, an audience member who said he had personal experience on zoning boards, said he agreed the traffic study did not accurately reflect what will happen when Echo Park is constructed.
“When I look at this I think, ‘You can’t be serious,’” Wells said. “You got it from who? The petitioner? You think there’s not bias?”
Wells argued the study hadn’t taken into account the fact that students may live at Echo Park and make multiple trips on the same road each day.
Jennifer Duckworth was the final Sunny Slopes resident to speak. Her house had been used by the petitioner in an image depicting what Echo Park will look like next to Sunny Slopes. In the picture, Echo Park sits on a hill, looking down at the neighborhood during winter. The trees that would normally provide Sunny Slopes residents with privacy are leafless, and the windows of the apartments are visible.
“You’ve got a dozen windows looking into my backyard five months out of the year,” Duckworth said.
Duckworth also echoed the previous concerns of traffic issues, adding that because the project allotted one parking spot per bedroom, parking overflow would spill into her neighborhood.
Despite the outcry against construction of Echo Park, the plan commissioners said their hands were tied.
“I feel sorry for the people who will have people looking into their backyard,” commissioner Susan Fernandes said. “There’s not much we can do about that. Hopefully our suggestions are considered, and they make things better for you. I don’t think we have any choice.”
For the commissioners, the vote was about what the property was zoned for and whether or not Echo Park met the criteria making it appropriate for the area.
With that announced to the public, the vote was counted 7-1, conditionally approving the plan for Echo Park.
The only commissioner to vote against it was Pat Williams.
“I’m disappointed that we are not going to be demanding corrections and improvements,” Williams said. “The basic problem really is that there is nothing wrong with this development, but it just doesn’t belong there. I’m going to be the one to vote ‘no.’”
