With the intent to help keep
our neighborhood informed about the Maryland School Development, I have been
asked by Susan Ryan from SC Ryan Consulting, LLC to share the following letter
from Bruce Korn with our community.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
November 2014
Dear
Neighbors:
On Monday, October 20th , my colleagues Larry
Schiffer, Gyo Obata and I appeared before the Clayton City Plan
Commission/Architectural Review Board for the first time to present the current
plans for the Maryland School Town Homes. This Conceptual Review meeting was
the first in a series of public meetings on the proposed development. We
participated in open dialogue with board members, and we answered questions
regarding the public demand for newly constructed homes that are efficient,
easy to maintain and uniquely designed to specifically accommodate
professionals and empty nesters. The development documents reviewed at the
public meeting are available on the City of Clayton website for the public to
review.
Since last spring, we have met with number residents of the
Old Town Neighborhood to seek your feedback and ideas. We appreciate your time,
as these meetings have been productive and have resulted in several plan
modifications we wanted to share with you. Recent changes include:
·
We have reduced the
number of proposed units from 45 to 36 single-family town homes to add more
green space to the neighborhood.
·
We have modified the
setbacks for the townhomes. The Westmoreland setback was 20 feet and is now
approximately 34 feet to the property line and 47 feet to the curb. The
Jackson setback was 10-12 feet and is now approximately 11 feet to the property
line and 21 feet to the curb. The Maryland setback was 17 feet and is now
approximately 23 feet to the property line and 31 feet to the curb. These
setbacks have been designed to better blend into the current look and feel of
the neighborhood.
·
Access to the
development is now limited to Jackson and Maryland Ave. The Westmoreland
entrance has been removed. As with the original design, each building will
provide secure, underground, out-of-sight parking for two vehicles per unit and
no home has an individual driveway. We have created a high-hedge along
Westmoreland within a landscape setting.
· As residents of this community ourselves,
we know there is a lot of affection for the Maryland School and the memories
created there over the years. We plan to honor those memories by
retaining and integrating special architectural features of the school, such as
the school’s entrance frieze and urns into the design of the
neighborhood. More information will be forthcoming as plans are
solidified.
Unlike other development proposals, the Maryland School Town
Homes does not seek tax breaks from the City of Clayton. The development also
has many added benefits to the Clayton Community. The Maryland School Town Home
community will:
· add new neighbors who will bring new
energy, support and revenue to Clayton restaurants, shops, services and
businesses that will help drive our local economy.
· result in millions of dollars to the
Clayton School District that will add more life into the Districts 2003 tax
levy, further delaying the need to return to voters for a tax increase.
· generate nearly $400,000 in annual tax
revenues for the Clayton schools and Clayton city services, which will help the
school district and city retain their hard-fought AAA bond ratings.
· bring $17-$20 million in construction
spending into our local economy.
· provide the needed incentive for
improvement of the retail area on Forsyth.
We are currently reviewing the feedback received from the ARB
and preparing information for the next step in the development process.
For updated photos of the plans, visit www.marylandschooltownhomes.com.
Again, we appreciate your openness, and if you have any
questions please feel free to give me a call.
Bruce Korn
314-575-5898
Maryland School Town Homes
