To the editor:

I’d like to address the developer at the southwest corner of Sixth and Folks Road:

At the May 22 planning commission, I pled our case for denying zoning for the apartment complex you want to build on the property bordering ours. As a neighborhood, we provided facts from Horizon 2020 and the Kansas Supreme Court that gave the commissioners more than enough reason to keep our neighborhood intact through appropriate zoning. We were blatantly ignored.

Your development intrudes deep into a strong and stable neighborhood of single-family homes. It is the strength of Lawrence’s neighborhoods that make it such a desirable community. By infesting our neighborhoods with generic, seen-it-before apartments, you are destroying the character of the city.

You offered to show us your ideas for the development but scheduled a meeting at the same time the planning commission was meeting to study your application. It seemed you wanted to keep us out of the loop. I don’t consider that very neighborly.

Mr. Developer, as you know, and as all the residents of Lawrence should realize, the planning commission has been appointed with people who have much at stake in the business of development, and they make their decisions accordingly. I hope I can rely on our city commissioners to do the right thing and reject your proposal.

I hope our ELECTED officials do what’s right for Lawrence because it is NOT their job to ensure that you receive zoning to enable maximum profits in your business ventures.

Kristen Fink,
Lawrence