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<br />January 26 2007 <br /> <br />Planning and Zoning Commission! <br />City Council Members <br /> <br />My name is Kevin Malani and I live at 7354 Old Mill Road in Centerville. I am <br />writing this letter with the support of many other residence in the immediate area. This <br />letter is in response to the proposal by Jeff and Laura Hanzal to build a single-family <br />home in the lot directly across the street from my property and south of their residence at <br />7381 Old Mill Road. We are very concerned with the Hanzals proposal because it <br />includes a variance to the existing code for development in the area. They are requesting <br />for a variance to allow for the new construction to be 15 ft from the easement instead of <br />the required 35 feet. This ultimately would allow for this new construction to sit <br />approximately 20 feet closer to the street than any other residence in the development. In <br />reviewing their proposal we are asking that their request be denied. To support our views <br />we have listed our concerns. <br /> <br />Our first concern is with having a non-conforming home in the area. For good <br />reason, city codes usually require basic uniformity in residential developments so that <br />other homeowners can walk out their front doors and view the entire block without <br />difficulty. If granted this 20 foot variance, residence both south and north of this new <br />construction would be looking at the side or back of this house. Also, this new <br />construction will almost certainly have some type of walkway built from the front door as <br />well as some type of landscaping in the front. These logical additions to the new home <br />would ultimately bring the appearance of the home even closer to the street. In addition, <br />if the city decided to use the easement for a sidewalk (or some other use) the house would <br />be less than 15 feet from it. We strongly believe that a home given such a large variance <br />would change the landscape to the degree that the esthetic appearance of the area would <br />be great! y affected in a negative way. <br /> <br />Our second concern is with security in the neighborhood. Police rely on the <br />uniformity of home being the same distance from the street when patrolling an area; <br />especially at night. The proposed new construction would block the view of officers <br />patrolling in either direction. Additionally, it would be easier for a criminal to hide <br />behind a house that protrudes out 20 feet. Granting this variance would reduce the <br />visibility of the officers patrolling the neighborhood while giving criminals an advantage. <br />Granting this variance would infringe upon the security of our neighborhood. <br /> <br />Our third concern is with increased on-street parking. It is without doubt that a <br />driveway of 30 feet or less would increase on-street parking on that side of the road. My <br />driveway is approximately 55 feet long, my neighbors John Krueger and Norma Essex <br />driveways are both at least is 51 feet long and I believe the Hanzals driveway is at least <br />60 feet long. I can fit 4 cars in my driveway though occasionally I have guests over and <br />need to utilize on-street parking. A driveway of 30 feet or less would be able to <br />accommodate 2 cars at most and on-street parking on that side of the road would become <br />commonplace. In the event that we both need to utilize on-street parking at the same <br />