2007-02-05 - Laserfiche WebLink

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9 Mr. John Santoski, 2421 Sunset Road, thanked Council for their attention to this issue. He said he would like to see more study of the impact. He said when the Jefferson Park bridge is closed for repairs traffic will be diverted and two elementary schools will be affected. He said any study should take a comprehensive look at the neighborhood, and it should not be done piecemeal. He said he would like to see traffic counts and to explore a temporary closure of Old Lynchburg Road to see how much traffic is diverted to Harris Road. Mr. Jack Gwynn, 2503 Brunswick Road, said he was disappointed in the response received at the last meeting. He said the County has been intimidating the City. He said Council should close Old Lynchburg Road right now and make the County build other roads. Mr. Ronald Nestor, Vice President of GMH Communities, Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, said his business develops, constructs and manages student and military housing. He said his business has owned property in the area for three years and Old Lynchburg Road provides a direct route to U. Va. and has made the property successful. He said they are cognizant of the impact their properties have on the communities. He said two shuttle buses are operated to alleviate personal trips to U. Va.. He said closing Old Lynchburg Road will cause irreparable harm to their property and its residents, and he urged Council to vote against it. Ms. Andrea Wieder, 2331 Highland Avenue, said that Fry’s Spring is primarily a residential neighborhood, and Council needs to help it. She said Council has to deal with the County to protect City residents. She said the County and U. Va. has to be responsible to us too. Ms. Betty Mooney, 201 Sunset Avenue, said she would like to ask a procedural question. She said the proffer issue is not on the agenda and she feels it should have a separate public hearing. Dr. Brown said that staff wanted direction from Council and that is not part of the public hearing. Ms. Mooney said she hopes Council does not rush into the proffer issue. She said the City needs comments from the public and the Planning Commission. She provided information that she and her husband collected on alternate routes to Old Lynchburg Road and times it took to drive them. She said if Old Lynchburg Road is closed it is faster to travel on I 64. Mr. Peter Edlin, 204 Todd Avenue, agreed that changes should be made as Biscuit Run is phased in. He said limiting left turns from the County would force people to take I 64. Mr. John Pfaltz, 1503 Rugby Road, said that while he agrees professionally with the staff’s technical solution, we are up against a political situation, and he feels Old Lynchburg Road should be closed until the connector is built. He said we should make it mandatory for the County to come up with roads. He said we should tell the County that we will only let buses go on Old Lynchburg Road. He said left turns onto Harris should be restricted. He asked why we should accept the bribe to improve our streets with proffers. Mr. James King, 2607 Jefferson Park Circle, said backbone needs to be put into the County so they can resist pressure from developers. He said Old Lynchburg Road should be closed right after the Jefferson Park bridge is closed for repairs. Mr. King said he supports Mr. Lynch’s comments that we need to look at the whole picture, including the region. He said we have to have the Granger property rezoned, and closing Old Lynchburg Road will put the pressure on.