On May 28th, 2024, the BOC voted to rezone the 111-acre Howie property for a developer project of 700+ residential units. This property was rezoned in 2021 from one per acre to four-plus houses per acre.
The Tuesday vote on the Emerson project was not a clear choice between higher or lower density. A “yes” vote was a vote for conditional high density. A “no” vote was a vote for an unknown, but likely lower density by-right option. At a high level, that is why I voted “no”.
From a developer’s perspective, the higher the residential density, the higher the profit margin. To those who claim that the by-right option was higher density, ask yourself why a developer would pass up a more profitable by-right plan that would not require them to go through the hassle and expense of conditional board approval.
Any reasonable density for this property was lost back in 2021 when it was up-zoned from one house per acre to four-plus houses per acre. Claiming victory because a few minor conditions were negotiated on Tuesday is equivalent to celebrating the new arrangement of deck chairs on the Titanic after you ran it into the iceberg. It’s a negotiated surrender at best.
Regarding by-right vs conditional, there is a history of confusion in this town. Click the link if you’d like to learn more.