By james art 
The developer’s plan to divide 7 acres into seven lots instead of six in a Gilbert division has neighbors.
And while the Gilbert Planning Commission approved the plan earlier this month by 6-1 votes, they plan to bring their case to the City Council when it meets on Tuesday, January 28th.
The developer Darkam, LLC, won a commission for his parcel plan, west west of Lindsay Road between Galveston and Williams Field Road, which would reduce every batch of 43,000 square feet to 35,000 feet.
The Commission also approved the developer’s request to change density from one unit per hectare to one to two units per acre.
Senior planning Gilbert Kristen Devine told the panel that one of the reasons to meet the approval of the staff, which is confronted with the limited access to the story itself.
“Previous conversations have been held between the staff and the applicant about the possibility of adding an access point from Pony Lane – the road right to the south,” she said.
“But there are significant restrictions on the access to this place due to a historical irrigation channel moving on the property. So this will be the only access from Lindsay Road, not Pony Lane. “
Devine noted that before this reduction of square footage was approved for a nearby plot of 12.19 acres, allowing developers to add an additional batch for a total of 13 homes northwest of Lindsay Road and Galveston Street.
Devine said that during the meeting of the neighborhood last October, 14 neighbors were opposed to this move due to problems with density and access.
Neighbor Brittany Palvigan, one of the five critics of the plan present at the planning committee meeting, said the question included the identity of the neighborhood.
“It just doesn’t handle the style of the neighborhood,” she said. “The neighbors around this area buy in this neighborhood for this specific reason. There are horses outside, there are pigs and there are chickens, and this is just a very wonderful area for raising family and children. “
Perry Castanis, a resident of Gilbert at 25, moved to the neighborhood “to retire and enjoy the last of our lives”.
“This is a lifestyle that we deliberately spent really good money to live, not to have it short in smaller batches,” he said.
Castanis also mentioned that he was one of the neighbors who opposed this move in 2022 of a 12 -acre story in the neighborhood.
“Unfortunately, I think the Commission, the City Council ignores the request of the surrounding neighbors, who were several, to stop this change,” he said.
“And unfortunately, this has passed and is now used as a precedent for prolonged change.”
Neighbor Jenel Inger and her husband have been living in one of the neighboring batches for 25 years.
She said that the city’s assessment that many surrounding batches are only decare, is incorrect, with its own lot at least 1.4 acres.
Inger also has potential access and traffic problems.
“I am worried about Lindsay Road, it’s now extremely dangerous to enter Lindsay Road,” she said, “There’s a junior high school where children go on the sidewalk. Many parents take their children to Pony Lane, which they should not, but they do. “
Residents Mark and Terry Grant also have done their opposition, but they do not want to talk.
The entrepreneur’s lawyer, Nathan Finch, said his client’s intention was to maintain the original size of the batches at the time of acquisition of the property.
But the new city planning rules require a single path from Lindsay Road, which feeds in land available to the owners of the plot.
“It is by no means a complaint … The rules that exist now require the specialized roadway, therefore, taking away the available square footage for the loss,” he said.
Commissioner Leslie Davis said that although of course the worries of the neighbors, the access point from Lindsay Road will essentially be an inland street and can have a less impact on the neighborhood than with access to Pony Lane.
The chairman of the Planning Commission Noah Mund said the plots passing from 43,000 square feet to 35,000 square feet will still lead to large batches – the Vice -President of the Point William Fay has agreed.
“And my personal belief is that if it came with” We will divide this into 12 lots ” – that would be extremely hassle -free,” Mund said. “But the idea that they all look quite big and in appearance, in my opinion, are the same as the closest to it.”
Mundt also noted that the only access point restricts the developer’s plans.
Commissioner Jan Simon said that while he knew what the neighborhood was saying, he saw that smaller property developers were coming to want 12-14 plots on their land, and that’s not the case.
However, Simon voted on the only vote on the proposal.
Commissioner Brian Andersen informs the enemy citizens that they can also express their concerns at a meeting of the City Council, where the Council will vote for the entrepreneur’s request.
The City Council must have a public hearing on this issue this Tuesday during its regular council meeting at 6:30 pm on the Council of the Council of 50 E. Civic Center Drive.