Say C.C. Young’s application for a zoning change is denied, and the retirement community and its neighbors can’t reach a compromise.
Then what?
Ken Durand, president of C.C. Young, says his company has been “forced to look at some reasonably unattractive alternatives — unattractive to us, to the market and to our neighbors.”
One of those alternatives, Durand says, would be a four-story structure with a much larger footprint than the eight-story building they’d prefer to build. The structure, he says, would abut
in order to maintain the green space at the site’s north end “for the enjoyment of our residents.” Existing zoning on the site would allow such a structure, Durand says.
in order to maintain the green space at the site’s north end “for the enjoyment of our residents.” Existing zoning on the site would allow such a structure, Durand says.
“It has a less desirable appearance for all involved,” he says.
District 9 Commissioner Bill “Bulldog” Cunningham is more forthright.
“It would be just awful-looking,” he says. “It would be a whole lot worse than an eight-story building. It would sit out there like a big billboard.”
Does any of this hold sway with those opposed to the eight-story building? Hard to say — Jonathan Hustis, president of the Cloisters Homeowners Association, declined to comment about the alternatives.
“I’ve seen some preliminary indications of what they could do under the current zoning, but C.C. Young had not given us a detailed description,” Hustis says. “So I can’t really comment on what would be acceptable or what wouldn’t, other than what’s been proposed. And what’s been proposed just doesn’t work.”
While Durand holds out hope for a compromise, he says C.C. Young would have little option but to go forward with the four-story structure if negotiations break down.
“I’m saying it is very likely going to be something along that line,” he says.
Durand knows that some view such a statement as a threat, but he says it’s not meant to be taken as such.
“We don’t want anybody to think that. There is no room in life for threats. The thing in life is to try to do the best for all concerned,” he says.
But the four-story building, he says, is not the best alternative.
“We all lose with that option.”
