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Item 6C Variance Request LetterJune 11, 2018 City of Southlake Re: ZA18-0011 Dear Mayor and City Council, I am writing to request a variance to the requirement for the construction of sidewalks triggered by the replatting of our property at 275 East Bob Jones Road, and the immediately adjacent 8.5 acres to the west. In a presentation to the Planning and Zoning Commission on June 7th, I presented three reasons on which our request was based. They are as follows. Financial burden I certainly agree with the requirement for construction of sidewalks during the development of densely populated residential neighborhoods, but this area of Southlake is far from that. This stretch of Bob Jones Road is more rural in nature with pipe rail fences and bar ditches, and it's been that way for the past 22 years we've lived here. The piece of property we are replatting from agricultural to SF2 and RE5 I believe is the last open property in our area. Given the current requirement to construct sidewalk is triggered by replat, it is highly unlikely any other property owners will be financially impacted like this in future. Should the City desire to fully develop a sidewalk system in this area in the future, it will be constructed with tax dollars. I feel it is unfair to put 100% of the financial burden on just two property owners now, and then they have to financially participate again should the City proceed with future development of this area. The impact is especially significant at 275 E Bob Jones due to existing fencing, entrance gates and landscaping. Usage There are no sidewalks anywhere in our area, the nearest being roughly a mile away at Clariden Ranch. Given all of the significant infrastructure requirements as Southlake grows, I strongly believe it will be a very long time before sidewalk development takes place in our neighborhood. Therefore, we'll be left with a 700' stretch of unusable "stranded" sidewalk. Note accessing the eastern end of the sidewalk would require scrambling through a 4' deep bar ditch! It doesn't seem reasonable to install something that won't be used for many years. In addition, a discontinuous or "stranded" sidewalk is a visual blight in the neighborhood. Impact The construction of this sidewalk will be highly impactful on existing trees, fencing, entrance gates and landscaping, especially on the heavily treed property at 275 E Bob Jones Rd. There is a dense thicket where small wildlife live which would also be impacted. Trees would likely need be cut down. So this scenario begs the question, why incur the cost and create the negative impact to construct a sidewalk that won't be used for a very long time? 1 respectfully request a variance to the requirement for sidewalk construction at this time. Thank you, WWI Mike Lamon 275 E Bob Jones Road a. 1 `ds Lij LLJ W* 28a vay� rra E BOB JftES RGfk,' ' 29P 261 ± 22S "215 [!OUESTRIAN OR ! 11_'° (PARK RD) y ate.