41-Unit Building on Emerson Moving Forward

 Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman

Last year, the Plymouth Church Neighborhood Foundation proposed a 48-unit building on the site of their property at 18th and Emerson.  Many neighbors in the immediate area were incensed at the inappropriate size of the development, as was I.  To PCNF's credit, they continued to engage the community, adjusted their plans at least slightly, and proposed a Community Benefits Agreement.  After a community meeting, the NRRC board supported that CBA by a vote of 9-2.

There are still concerns raised over the scope of this project, and whether it fits with the neighborhood as a whole.  PCNF did reduce the number of units from 48 down to 41, and agreed to fewer stories on site at the ends of the building, so that it would step down to surrounding properties on the block.  I wanted to see how the building would fit though.  So with permission from a PCNF staff person, I used their updated site rendering (the one that appeared to have the most support at the meeting) and layered it onto Google Maps.

Admittedly, it's hard to get a sense of how the building fits or doesn't fit with these pictures alone, as the maps don't show what's across the street.  Furthermore, it should go without saying that the site plan as it's layered above may not coincide with the actual location of the structure.  But it's about as good of an image as anyone's produced.

So even though the NRRC board approved the CBA rather convincingly, I still have mixed feelings...

Plop Fifty Units of Housing into a Low-Density Part of NoMi? Bad Idea.

 Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman, image from the Plymouth Christian Church Foundation website.

When I first heard of plans to put 48 units of rental housing at 18th and Emerson, where there is currently no such facility or density anywhere nearby, Several questions immediately popped to mind.  The proposal is misguided on so many levels that the rapid-fire questions kept coming before the last one could even be completed.  "Who the--?"  "What the--?  They can't possibly think that--?  I mean, where is there even space for--?  How does that fit--?  Isn't it zoned--?  And kids/daycare without green--?"

Thankfully, the Old Highland group put together a response (without my coordination) that completes my sentences and answers many of those questions.  The link under the photos above goes to one of the foundation's questionnaires, this link goes to their homepage, and you can click here for a Q&A document that in my opinion is inaccurate, misguided, or both.  This is the wrong spot to put up a four-story, 48-unit complex that calls for day care but has no open space for children to play outside.  If you want to even think about a complex like the one being proposed, take it up to Lowry Avenue, which was just rezoned for that kind of density.  Emerson and 18th is the wrong spot for this proposal.

Feel free to use the comment section to agree or disagree with me, but more importantly, come out to the community forum and weigh in on the topic.  That meeting is Thursday evening, 6-8 at UROC.