From: Sheryl Nulph
Columbus
I would urge city officials to carefully consider the rezoning proposed for the area north of Columbus. Push numbers aside, really listen to the residents and carefully consider the impact it will have on them. These taxpayers purchased their homes trusting a certain integrity of their area would be maintained. Their concerns should be placed above the potential for development.
Look at the historic downtown area of Columbus to see a firsthand example of what unnecessary overcrowding and overtaxed infrastructure can do to an area over time. Many of the homes in the historic downtown have been divided into small apartments with double or triple the occupancy they were originally intended to support. The infrastructure in the area was not designed for double or triple its original population. This has caused problems with additional traffic, parking, crowding, fires and an overall decline in the integrity of the homes in the historic downtown. As the single-family homeowners in the historic area can tell you, once the integrity of a neighborhood is compromised, it’s a difficult, costly and uphill climb to reverse the trend.
Growth is good for any city, but it must be carefully balanced with what is fair to homeowners who have already invested in the area. Attention must be paid to how growth will impact the current residents, infrastructure, traffic, property value and the overall integrity of the area. It’s one thing to sit behind a desk and crunch numbers. It’s another to actually have to live in and with the consequences of those numbers. Ask any of the single-family homeowners in the historic downtown.
I urge city officials to work with residents of the area and the potential developer to find ways of compromise that will benefit all. Working together to find a way to grow the area with integrity will make a stronger neighborhood that everyone can be proud of.
