Item 7: Action: Ordinance on Infill Compatibility Standards Code Amendments

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From:John Russial To:HARDING Terri L; Proposed S-JW zone Subject: Saturday, November 14, 2009 11:30:58 PM Date: Dear Mayor and City Councilors, I've been a resident of the Jefferson-Westside neighborhood for more than 18 years, since I and my family moved from Philadelphia in 1992 when I took a job as a professor at the University of Oregon and bought a house on Almaden Street. Both my children attended neighborhood schools (Patterson and Jefferson) and went on to study at very good universities. I enjoy my house and its garden and the good friends who live in houses and apartments nearby. I would not want to live anywhere else. Over the last several years, I have attended quite a few neighborhood, city planning and council meetings about infill compatibility standards because I could see for myself what happens when incompatible infill is allowed to happen. The S-JW zone proposal is in many ways the culmination of efforts to protect this neighborhood. Livability can be compromised when structures of inappropriate scope and scale are shoehorned into lots or lots are adjusted in ways that are inconsistent with the nature of the neighborhood. It has happened within blocks of my house. The proposal would continue to allow infill, but it would set up sensible criteria for it--criteria that maintain the livability of the neighborhood, which is what makes it attractive to people of different backgrounds, occupations and income levels. I don't know anyone in the neighborhood who opposes the idea of infill, and there have been examples of good, compatible infill, also within a few blocks of my house. This proposal would help ensurte that infill is good for the neighborhood, not detrimental to its livability. Please approve the proposed S-JW special area zone. Sincerely, John Russial 941 Almaden St.