Opposition to W-2958, Student Housing Project Proposed by Place Properties at the Gateway

To:  Winston-Salem City Council

• We, the people of Winston-Salem, believe in the public process that influenced the development of LEGACY: A Development Guide for Winston-Salem and Forsyth County, the South Central Area Plan, and the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO).
• We believe these documents set forth measures and conditions that assure the safe, environmentally sound, orderly, and predictable development within our community.
• We believe the adoption of these public documents establishes a covenant between the City of Winston-Salem, its elected and appointed officials, and the citizens of the community.
• We also steadfastly believe that the sustaining strength of all neighborhoods surrounding the Gateway is its racial, cultural and economic diversity, and welcome student housing that is properly placed, appropriately scaled to its surroundings, and environmentally responsible.

Therefore:

• We, the undersigned residents and citizens of Winston-Salem, state our opposition to Site Plan Amendment W-2958 now before the City Council of Winston-Salem. This Amendment is related to the site plan approval for the building of two four-story, dormitory-style student housing buildings consisting of 320 beds with associated parking by Place Acquisitions, LLC and Southeast Gateway Ventures, LLC.
• This development is planned for a narrow strip of vacant, privately owned, and environmentally sensitive flood plain land along Salem Creek between the historic West Salem and Washington Park neighborhoods and adjacent to the city’s oldest public park, Washington Park.

WE OPPOSE THE BUILDING OF THIS PROJECT AT THE LOCATION PROPOSED BY THE DEVELOPER(S) FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS:

• We believe the Winston-Salem/ Forsyth County Planning Board has misapplied or ignored the standards and guidelines contained in LEGACY, the South Central Area Plan and the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) in their approval of this development. (e.g. – “Dormitory-style student housing” is not the same as “multifamily residential”)

• We believe the shoehorning of a high-density development in the midst of several historic neighborhoods erodes and compromises the historic nature, character and viability of these neighborhoods.

• We believe and understand this development requires the significant destruction of mature trees and vegetation along the periphery of the Salem Creek Greenway and will require intense grading on steep slopes, resulting in a “strip mining” effect on large areas of land abutting a single family residential neighborhood, thus having a negative effect on the use and enjoyment of Washington Park and the Greenway, and on future property values of all surrounding areas.

• We believe this development will cause an increase in noise, water and light pollution in Washington Park, along the Greenway, and in the surrounding neighborhoods, and will negatively impact important wildlife resources of the area and the water quality of the already impaired Salem Creek.

• We believe the extreme density of this project (effectively 80 units/acre) will cause significant traffic and safety issues on the adjacent streets serving all the surrounding neighborhoods.

WE BELIEVE THIS SITE IS THE WRONG PLACE
FOR HIGH-DENSITY DORMITORY-STYLE STUDENT HOUSING

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Opposition to W-2958, Student Housing Project Proposed by Place Properties at the Gateway Petition to Winston-Salem City Council was created by Washington Park and West Salem neighborhood associations and written by Leslie Kamtman (milekam@bellsouth.net).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.

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