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HomeMy WebLinkAboutA002 - Correspondence regarding public hearing Anderson, Ray From: Dillon Kraft <kraftdillon@gmail.com> Sent: Thursday, October 20, 2022 9:14 AM To: Anderson, Ray Cc: Grant Thompson Subject: Pending Zoning Board of Adjustment public hearing for 3207 Oakland St [External Email} Good morning Ray, I hope this email finds you well. I'm writing to you to voice my support for Grant and Thressa Thompson's garden project at their property located at 3207 Oakland St. My wife Jelena and I live at the property directly adjacent to the west (3213 Oakland St) and have been monitoring the Thompson's progress. The garden does not in any way impede our view of the street or traffic, it is attractive and professionally designed and constructed. In a neighborhood of towering oaks and hungry deer, we understand that finding a sunny spot for a family garden is quite a challenge and fully empathize with the Thompsons. I don't believe any other area on the Thompson's property could properly support a garden plot. From my time serving the city on the Historic Preservation Commission, I understand what a limited commodity staff and Board time can be. I would encourage you and your staff to review the current ordinances regarding fencing within the city. An updated and clear set of guidelines that allows residents to responsibly maintain and enhance their properties with benefit everyone. I ask the Board to examine and justify the intent behind the current ordinance and ask themselves if it is written in a way that best serves the citizens and property owners in Ames. I challenge the Zoning Board to examine this project in particular as an example and explain how it could possibly impact the city negatively in any way as I feel it enhances the neighborhood by encouraging responsible sustainability. Ambiguous language that may be left up to the interpretation of the Board can be rife with controversy, especially when a busy-body neighbor has nothing better to do with their time than make frivolous complaints about their neighbors. Please consider reviewing and revising the current guidelines so they are clear and beneficial to property owners in our wonderful city. Thank you and the Zoning Board for your time and service to the city. Sincerely, Dillon and Jelena Kraft 3213 Oakland St. 1 Anderson, Ray From: John Hoffman <jdh2024@gmail.com> Sent: Wednesday, October 19, 2022 9:28 PM To: Anderson, Ray Subject: 3207 Oakland Avenue/ Board of Adjustment {ExternatEmail] Dear Mr. Anderson: We are unable to come to the Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting next Wednesday, but we want to express our support for Grant and Thressa Thompson's garden with trellises in their yard. We walk by there frequently and see it as a very nice feature in their front yard, and will be even better next year when plants are growing up the arbor lattices. We would really appreciate the City of Ames allowing this beautiful and functional landscape feature to remain as is. John and Lisa Hoffman 416 Franklin Ave 1 Anderson, Ray From: Jacobson, John [AER E] <jacobson@iastate.edu> Sent: Wednesday, October 19, 2022 7:54 PM To: Anderson, Ray Cc: Grant Thompson Subject: Support for request for variance [External Email] Mr. Anderson, We find Grant and Thressa Thompson's garden structure at 3207 Oakland Street not only an asset to the property but very much in keeping with the colonial architecture of the house. This neighborhood is very much blessed with shade but this makes sunny spots for gardening at a premium. We applaud Grant for finding a clever solution for developing one. Co-existing with the local deer herd necessitates that a vegetable garden be protected by something more than four feet high if one wants more than stubble at harvest. Therefore, we support the Thompson's petition for a variance if the city insists on classifying the trellis as a fence. Jane &John Jacobson 3409 Oakland Street 1 Anderson, Ray From: nrcnalini@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, October 19, 2022 12:18 PM To: Anderson, Ray Subject: Public Notice, Zoning Board of Adjustment concerning 3207 Oakland Avenue [External Email] Dear Ray Please refer to the conversation I had with you at approximately 9.00 am on October 19, 2022 regarding the proposed zoning change at 3207 Oakland Street, Ames, 50014. 1 brought to your attention that Oakland Street is the primary residential area in the City of Ames. In fact, the house we own, 3201 Oakland Street, Ames, was owned by Howard Ames, a former Manager of the City of Ames. It is my understanding that the City had ties to his family and was named after the family. The property, 3201 Oakland Street is indeed a vintage home which we may donate to the City when we pass on. The house has 14 inch brick walls and the bricks of which it is constructed are unique and no longer made. I hope you will go by the house and see it for yourself. Developers like to make a quick buck and do not care what they desecrate during the implementation of their proposed plans. I wish I could be present at the October 26th meeting. I live in California and I am unable to travel, even by plane, because I am 87 years old. W e have requested our dear friend, Ms. Catherine Malliet to be present at the meeting to observe the proceedings., We urge you not to agree with the proposed zoning change requested by Grant Thompson. We strongly oppose it and the City of Ames should oppose it in order to preserve the Neighborhood as the primary historical area in Ames. Its historical importance demands that you do so. Sincerely, Dr. Kandiah Jeyapalan (Retired Professor of Iowa State University and Owner of 3201 Oakland Street, Ames, 50014) 1 Anderson, Ray From: webnotification@cityofames.org on behalf of City of Ames, IA <webnotification@cityofames.org> Sent: Wednesday, October 19, 2022 8:05 AM To: Anderson, Ray Subject: Support for Thompson garden structure [External Email] Message submitted from the <City of Ames, IA>website. Site Visitor Name: Winnie Gleason Site Visitor Email: winniegleason@gmail.com H I Ray, We live at 3218 Oakland Street, are writing to express our support for the Thompson family's garden structure. Our neighborhood is an eclectic combination of architecture styles, lot and house sizes, and varying degrees of landscaping efforts-we love this about it! The Thompson family's garden structure is unusual but a creative way to use the sun in a neighborhood where we love our big trees but they do limit gardening.The structure is very attractive and does not"feel" like a fenced area and it has been fun to watch the neighborhood interactions as they built it. We encourage the Zoning Board to allow this structure to remain without modification. Please feel free to contact us with any questions. Thanks, Winnie and Mark Gleason Anderson, Ray From: Sarah Nusser <smnusser@gmail.com> Sent: Wednesday, October 19, 2022 7:50 AM To: Anderson, Ray Cc: Michael King Subject: Garden structure at 3207 Oakland St [External Email] Dear Ray, We wish to join our neighbors in strongly supporting the retention of the front yard garden structure at 3207 Oakland St, the home of Grant and Theresa Thompson. This is not a fence in our view. It is an aesthetically pleasing garden structure that promotes healthy growth of plants while managing disease and pests, including deer, which have caused considerable damage throughout our neighborhood. As neighbors only a block away, we have enjoyed watching the garden come into being and marveled at the design and professionalism that went into making a loving trellis structure.We know that many other neighbors have admired the Thompson's work. We are not sure what prompted the City of Ames to investigate this structure, but wish to strongly indicate that it would be a travesty to ask for modification of the garden trellis, which is more like an artwork than a fence. Thank you for considering our feedback in this matter. Sarah M Nusser, 515-231-9305 Michael P King, 515-450-6722 3312 Oakland St,Ames 1 Anderson, Ray From: Sally Carnes <sdepen@yahoo.com> Sent: Wednesday, October 19, 2022 6:45 AM To. Anderson, Ray Subject: 3207 Oakland Street [External Email] RE: 3207 Oakland Avenue/Ames Zoning Board of Adjustment hearing Dear Mr. Anderson: We live three houses down from our neighbors at 3207 Oakland Avenue. We would like to express our strong support of the Thompson family's garden structure that is the subject of an upcoming hearing. We believe that the arbor/trellis structure has been misclassified as a fence.The structure is not continuous and allows for a very smart use of a sunny location for the family's garden. It also utilizes horticultural best practices and significant efforts were taken to ensure it is aesthetically pleasing. Thank you for your consideration of the neighborhood's support in allowing this arbor/trellis garden structure to remain as is. Sincerely, Sally and Dave Carnes 3225 Oakland Street i Anderson, Ray From: Joan Weakland <jweakland60@gmail.com> Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2022 11:04 PM To: Anderson, Ray Cc: Gianfranco Ciardo Subject: 3207 Oakland Avenue/Ames Zoning Board of Adjustment hearing [External Email] Dear Mr. Anderson: My husband, Gianfranco Ciardo, and I live around the corner from 3207 Oakland Avenue. We would like to express our strong support for the Thompson family's garden structure. Whether it is called an arbor, a trellis, or"enclosed raised bed garden with decorative lattice support", one thing we would not call it is"a fence". The Thompsons clearly placed their garden structure in their property's sunny location and made significant effort for it to be aesthetically pleasing.All of us in Ames who live near ravines and woods truly struggle to minimize garden damage from our deer population. We think the Thompson's structure is a smart and attractive approach to gardening WITHOUT fencing. We encourage the Zoning Board to allow this structure to remain without modification. Sincerely, Joan Weakland and Gianfranco Ciardo 428 Hawthorne Avenue Ames, IA 50014 --------------- H: 515.292.9422 C: 951.255.6130 --------------- JWeakland60@gmail.com i Anderson, RaNy From: Bob Haug <bhaug.ames@gmail.com> Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2022 8:25 PM To: Anderson, Ray Cc: grantlthompson@gmail.com Subject: Zoning Board adjustment hearing October 26, 2022 [External Email] Dear Mr. Anderson I am writing to request that the Zoning Board rescind the enforcement letter that would require reconstruction of the small enclosure that the Thompson's (3207 Oakland Street) have built to protect and visually enhance their garden. In my view, reducing the height of the structure to four feet is effectively an order for removal. The structure does not appear to be a continuous fence, but an aesthetically pleasing garden enclosure that apparently serves as a trellis. It doesn't look like a fence. Exclosures around gardens, plants, shrubs, and newly planted trees are necessary in a neighborhood where deer are so common (a dozen or more in a herd at some times of the year). A four-foot exclosure is no more than an inconvenience to an adult white-tail deer. The apparent interpretation of the ordinance in this case will discourage urban horticulture and its community and environmental benefits. Planting vegetables,flowers, native plants and shrubs is otherwise encouraged by the city and is consistent with its sustainability and climate action goals—consider city programs that support tree planting, composting, and rain gardens. Such plantings provide vital support for pollinators, retain more moisture, and improve soil health, but they must be protected. The alternative is more turfgrass and its attendant problems, including fertilizer runoff as well as air and noise pollution. In addition to supporting the Thompsons in the upcoming adjustment hearing, I would encourage the City Planning and Housing Department or other appropriate department to revisit the language of the ordinance and make recommendations to the council—at a minimum for its clarification—but also for further consideration of its intent and consistency with other city goals. Sincerely, Bob Haug 3517 Oakland Street 1 Anderson, REEMM ay From: Ravenscroft, Sue P [ACCT] <sueraven@iastate.edu> Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2022 7:59 PM To: Anderson, Ray Cc: grantlthompson@gmail.com Subject: Grant Thompson trellis garden on Oakland [External Email] ®ear Mr. Anderson, I live on Westwood, which is the western extension of Oakland and walk regularly past the Thompson's home on Oakland. I am intrigued by and admiring of the new trellis structure the Thompsons are building. They have planned thoughtfully and found the one spot in their shady yard with the most sunshine and have created a lovely structure, that I only wish I had the skill to emulate. I totally support people being allowed to do with their yards whatever they choose with the proviso that it does not hurt others. This structure makes me smile; it will be a great example of raised-bed gardening in a small space, and it hurts no one. Please do what needs to be done to let the Thompsons proceed with their creative project. Thank you for your attention, Sue Ravenscroft 455 Westwood Anderson, Ray From: Morris, Dilys E <dmorris@iastate.edu> Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2022 11:40 AM To: Anderson, Ray Cc: Grant Thompson Subject: 3207 Oakland Street appeal, October 26 Zoning Board Agenda [External Email] Yesterday we received a public notice from the Zoning Board of Adjustment because our home is within 200 feet of the 3207 Oakland property. We support Grant Thompson of 3207 Oakland Street in his appeal to allow his trellised area in his front yard to remain as designed. We in no way consider this aesthetically pleasing garden accent to be a fence. If the Zoning Board believes it is a fence, then we say this is a misclassification. The vegetable trellises that Grant Thompson built over the summer are intriguing and attractive and in no way bother us. In fact their construction gave neighbors out for a walk an opportunity to meet and chat with our new 3207 neighbors, encouraging neighborly interactions. We saw huge and careful effort put into this project as Grant measured, leveled and checked every aspect of his work. We look forward to seeing the healthy vegetables growing and the additional landscaping and flowers planned for the front. It gives us, some of the oldest neighborhood residents, pleasure to see such love put into improving a home. Dilys Morris Achilles Avraamides i