Eventide zoning change request approved

Talk about it

The Jamestown Planning Commission gave its stamp of approval to a zoning change for two lots in the Hillcrest Addition during its regular meeting Monday. The lots, currently zoned residential, are part of a planned expansion and renovation project by Eventide at Hi-Acres.

If given final approval by the City Council, the lots will be rezoned to public use, open development and conservation also known as P-O-C zoning. One of the allowed uses of a lot zoned P-O-C is a senior living facility if its plans meet the requirements of a planned residence district.

The change was protested by all seven neighboring residents when introduced at the January meeting of the Planning Commission. The commission directed Eventide at Hi-Acres to meet with the residents about their concerns. Those meetings were held Feb. 4 and 8 but did not persuade Joel Traiser, a resident of the area, of the project’s appropriateness.

“I’m concerned that there is no attempt to compromise,” Traiser said at Monday’s meeting. “We don’t know any more today about shields or buffers between the development and the neighborhood.”

Traiser also voiced concerns about the project’s impact on the area.

“The setting of the neighborhood and what it offers will be diminished by the project,” he said.

No one spoke for the project at the meeting.

A motion to approve the zoning change passed unanimously with a 6-0 vote. Planning Commission members Paulette Ritter, David Hillerud and Michael Bergquist were absent from the meeting.

The zoning change now moves to the City Council. Because the project was protested by all the neighbors within 150 feet of the proposed changes, it requires a 75 percent majority to pass the council.

In other business, the Planning Commission approved a change to the zoning of proposed lot 2 of Berndt Addition. This lot is currently a green space behind the Anne Carlsen Center. The lot is currently zoned industrial and will change to P-O-C. The motion to change the zoning passed unanimously.

The Planning Commission also tabled its regular election of officers until a future meeting with all members in attendance.

Sun reporter Keith Norman can be reached at 701-952-8452 or by email at knorman@jamestownsun.com

Tags: local news, news, zoning