Little Forest Hills nears point of applying for conservation district status
Back in 2002, photographer Gary McCoy and a few of his neighbors saw the writing on the wall when few others could: Their neighborhood was getting ready to be inundated with new construction.
By now, the teardown issue is nothing new to anyone who lives in our neighborhood. And like any complex issue that requires a degree of critical thought, people have different ways of dealing with it. Some people complain incessantly but do nothing. Some people agree that property rights are property rights and lot owners can build what they want.
And then there are those who will endure aching feet, red tape and baby-steps-of-progress to get what they want.
That’s McCoy and his neighbors.
For four years, they’ve been trying to make Little Forest Hills a conservation district. They’ve walked the neighborhood knocking on doors, explaining that “no, they weren’t selling anything.” They’ve explained what they perceive as the threats facing their neighborhood to those who open their doors. They’ve asked those same people to sign a petition that would tell the city that Little Forest Hills is mostly united in its desire to preserve what McCoy calls the neighborhood’s “eclectic yet quaint charm.”
“There is a strong sense of community and of belonging to a neighborhood from an earlier time — the 1930s and ’40s,” he says. “Neighbors actually know their neighbors, and people walk safely around the neighborhood. They stop and chat, walk their dogs, push baby strollers. It’s wonderful in that way.
Most recently, the effort’s organizers started putting signs in their yards with the slogan, “Keep Little Forest Hills Funky.” Christie Turner, who recently took over as LFH Neighborhood Association president, says organizers want the signs to have a “positive message.”
“We really felt like those ‘Don’t Supersize’ signs sent a negative message,” she says, adding that she’s personally “very concerned because of the potentially divisive nature of conservation.”
No matter what kind of house her neighbors live in, she says, she wants “people to feel like everyone has a voice in what’s decided. That’s the only way we’ll be successful, and we would like to succeed.”
And indeed, they’re gaining momentum, says McCoy, who has lived in Little Forest Hills for 20 years.
“Every few days, I get a phone call from another homeowner who is disturbed by the new big homes and wants to sign the petition and become involved.
“We have had only about eight or nine real teardowns that have been replaced by monster houses. But there are a few more lots now scraped and ready for construction,” McCoy says. “Each one of these large homes have had an impact on the neighborhood in terms of inconsistent stylistic changes, but more on the wallets of our friends and neighbors who have their lives invested here.
“Change that does not honor our neighborhood character, history or our residents is very unhealthy. Conservation will create an environment for healthy change for everyone.”
Turner explains the community’s options. One, with more than 50 percent of residents’ signatures but fewer than 75 percent, they can submit the petition with a $2,400 check and the city will start the feasibility study. Or two, with 75 percent of signatures, the city will do the study for no fee.
After years of walking the blocks, they have 65 percent of the 900-plus residents’ signatures. Getting that remaining 10 percent is proving difficult. Some residents won’t open their doors, a number of the houses are leased by non-resident owners who are tough to get in touch with, and about six or seven percent of homeowners have declined to sign the petition, Turner says.
That’s where those yard signs come in. Little Forest Hills residents who feel strongly about becoming a conservation district can put them in their yards for a donation of $10 (minimum) to $30 (preferred). The effort’s organizers are hoping that through the signs and other donations, they can raise enough money to put them close to the $2,400 fee.
If that happens, they plan to submit the petition to the city sometime this month. From there, it’s a matter of waiting the usual 12-18 months it takes from the initial authorizing of a study until adoption by the city council.
“With the strong show of support we’ve seen as the ‘Big Houses’ have arrived, I have no doubt that we will become a conservation district, sooner rather than later,” McCoy says.
“We have something terrific to save here.”
MORE INFO:
To find out more about Little Forest Hill’s efforts to become a conservation district, visit littleforesthills.org
