Two weeks after the Town Council approved the Dunstan Village Residential Zoning District, which allowed for a zone change on a 142-acre parcel owned by John and Elliott Chamberlain, there has been no citizen attempt to overturn the decision.
“I’m personally not interested in fighting the situation any further,” said Ace Holton, who was active in the discussion surrounding the zone change and the project at its center, the Great American Neighborhood, also called Dunstan Crossing.
The council approved a zoning change on the Dunstan property from RF to R2, which will allow for up to 240 units. In addition, the zone contains two 10 percent bonus provisions for land preservation and affordable housing that would allow for an additional 48 units, bringing the total allowed under the ordinance to 288 units.
The potential for a citizen-initiated referendum overturning the decision is a possibility and one reason why some councilors wanted to proceed with fewer units than were approved.
Town Council Chairman Jeffrey Messer supported a 264-unit development and felt it had a better chance of passing resident review, but said he felt the 288-unit proposal has a 50/50 chance of passing, if it went to a town-wide vote.
Still it is a relief not to have a petition circulating asking for a referendum vote on the change, Messer said, adding that settling the GAN issue was one of the biggest challenges the council will face this year.
There seems to be little motivation by neighbors to overturn the decision. As of Wednesday morning Town Clerk Yolande Justice had not received any inquiries and with a June 21 deadline, it would seem difficult to collect and submit the more than 2,000 signatures necessary to force a referendum vote.
Some of the more active people in the planning process do not seem interested in trying to overturn the council’s latest decision.
“I think many people that voted against the GAN are disappointed,” Holton said. “As one of the people who was active in the process, I feel it’s the best we can do. We got a little smaller development, but in the long run it didn’t take care of the additional problems we see.”
Town Manager Ron Owens said that he has heard very little regarding the latest proposal, especially compared to the outcry regarding the initial Town Council approval for the 397-unit project at the same site.
“I don’t hear the kind of rumbling or grumbling we had with the neighborhood the first time around,” Owens said.
One reason for the lack of interest in overturning the decision may be the lawsuit the Chamberlains have filed against the town, Messer said.
The Chamberlains filed suit against the town after a Town Council-approved contract zone that would have allowed the developers to build 397 units was overturned by referendum.
In the suit, the Chamberlains argued primarily that the town’s zoning on the property was inconsistent with the Comprehensive Plan. In February a judge agreed with them and ordered the town submit a proposal by June 1. The new zone is the town’s response.
Elliott Chamberlain said an R3 zone would be better suited for the area, but felt the R2 with bonuses was an acceptable compromise. However, he said he would not drop the suit against the town until the June 21 deadline for the prospect of a citizen referendum had passed.
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