Mistletoe Heights Neighborhood Meeting

July 15, 2014 7-9:15pm

Officer Attendees: Kyle Jenson, Jeri Jo Blackmon, Ben Belsher, Stefanie Ball Piwetz. 
Other Attendees: Special Guests: Kelly Ryan, Randall Price, Randy Primrose, Taylor Farden.   

Secretary: Valerie Ewing

7:08pm Kyle Jenson, President of Mistletoe Heights Association, started the meeting by introducing the special guests.  The first speaker was Randall Price, Attorney with Cantey Hanger LLP.  He presented a slide show detailing the historical significance of Lot 10-R, an empty lot located north of Newby Park at the corner of Jerome and Rosedale.  In 1911, the undeveloped lot was originally several lots zoned for single family dwellings.  Over the years the lots were reduced in size or condemned when Rosedale Road and the Rail Road Tracks were built. 

In 1951, Mrs. Newby donated a plot of land that is now city owned and recognized as Newby Park.  In 1977, Newby Park was expanded to include the entire area that is Newby Park today.  At the same time, lot 10-R was re-platted.  In sum, “over the last 103 years, the single family designation for this area has been abandoned.” As quoted by Attorney Randall Price. 

Mr. Kelly Ryan purchased the lot in 1997 and the plan right now is to build an apartment complex at the site.  Guest speaker Taylor Farden is a Development Analyst with Magnolia Property Company and he provided an anticipated demographic for the residents of this apartment complex.  They anticipate the residents to be mostly educated single females in their late twenties to thirties. The design-focus will be on Kitchens and Bathrooms.  70% 1Bedrooms, 30% 2 Bedrooms with prices ~$1200.  The size of the apartment building will be a four or five story building.  Randall Price interjected at this point that the area is zoned for five stories with potential for an eight story building.  Parking will likely be accessed off Jerome Street.

Question: Is there an agenda?  Mr. Randall Price stated they are anticipating the building to begin soon but they were not able to give a detailed timeline.  Right now the Title Insurance will be done in about 10 days then wavers will be signed and then it goes to the developer. 

Mr. Price reiterated that although originally the lot was zoned for single family dwellings, this has been abandoned and will likely not be enforceable.  The Tax Increment Financing (TIF) is favoring a multifamily structure.  Mr. Taylor Farden said that although they would take into consideration people’s concerns, they cannot build a one hundred year old looking structure to go with our historic neighborhood. 

8:15pm Special guests left the meeting.  Kyle Jenson mentioned that notifying the Mistletoe Heights residents of this new development will be in a manner similar to which residents were notified of the Price Hulsey townhomes.

Committee Reports

Ben Belsher – Development Report: Price Hulsey’s townhomes are going as planned.  The Jason’s Deli is starting to be built (located near Torchys). 

8:21pm Stefanie Piwetz Ball – Newsletter: copy to Joe was submitted today but there will be a delay in printing until the first week of August due to both being out of town.   

8:29pm Jeri Jo Blackmon – Treasury Report: There have not been as many advertisers this month that have historically requested ads in the Newsletter, including Chadra and The Neighborhood Grill.  Thank you notes will be sent to Stephen McReynolds and Jim Peipert for their help with the park benches at the triangle.  

8:35pm Volunteers Needed: Email moderator and historical preservation – not discussed due to time constraints.

8:40pm History of Sangamo Park: This is the area of Mistletoe Heights that encompasses homes from the 1100-1199 block of Mistletoe Drive and 1100-1199 block of Clara that are not included in the Historical Preservation.   Although preliminary, there is discussion of having the area protected by historic overlay.

8:45pm Sound wall: is looking good.  When it is completed, the city will landscape the area. 

8:46pm Sidewalks on Jerome: Andrew Clogg has a meeting with the transportation manager, David Jodray, on July 23^rd. 

8:48pm Peace Pole: A little backstory obtained from Wikipedia: A Peace Pole is a monument that displays the message "May Peace Prevail on Earth” in the language of the country where it has been placed, and usually 3 to 5 additional translations. The message is referred to as a peace prayer. Peace Poles are made of many materials in varying sizes, from tall granite poles to small wooden ones. The text might be carved or etched or painted.   Would the residents of MH be interested in having a peace pole in the neighborhood?  This will be discussed further at the next meeting. 

Final subject: Can we plant more trees at the Triangle, along the easement (or area between the street and sidewalk) to provide more shade and maybe consider a sprinkler system?   It was pointed out by one of the officers that this may be met with resistance because historically there have been objections to anything planted or placed on the Triangle including the benches and trees there presently. 

 
9:15pm Meeting Adjourned.