DEAR EDITOR:
Yep, its one of those deals as long as it’s not in their
backyard, then they don’t care how it affects our lives!!!
DEAR EDITOR:
Yep, its one of those deals as long as it’s not in their backyard, then they don’t care how it affects our lives!!!
I’ve gone to a city council meeting, the neighbors attending planning commission meetings and many letters were written to the city of Gilroy, but because it’s not the city planning and/or councilmember’s backyards, my gosh, they don’t even care or use common sense.
The backs of our three properties will face seven new, two-story, huge, Warmington Homes being built off of Kern Avenue. Since Kern Avenue is higher than Wren Avenue, to keep the water from flowing into our yards and flowing onto Kern Avenue, the city has made Warmington Homes grade and add landfill to accommodate this need.
So, instead of the city planning and/or the councilmembers coming out to the site and reviewing the area, they’ve allowed these towering homes to be built way above our ground level with disregard to our rights of natural sunlight.
Imagine in your back yard a huge two-story home being built on the top of four foot pad of dirt and on top of that pad of dirt a 10-inch foundation and then this monstrous house.
The back of our homes HAD a beautiful view of the west side mountains and evening sunsets, now they are being completely darkened by the stupidity of the city planning department and city council members.
I urged them to come see what they have done and asked would they like this done to their back yards. None of them have stepped foot into our three back yards.
A single-story house should have been the only height of houses allowed behind our homes. Our back yards now feel like dungeons. My 35- to 40-year-old trees are taking a beating due to the fact that water can no longer get to the depth it had done before with that 4.5-foot-high pad of dirt covering their roots. I’ve had to water them slowly for about 24 hours recently to keep them from dying.
Anyone living in this area with their front yards facing Wren Avenue and the back of their properties facing a bare lot on Kern Avenue should fight to keep the City of Gilroy from putting a two-story home behind your one-story homes.
Instead of a sunset in the evenings I now have darkness and my beautiful landscaping is taking a beating with the lack of sunlight we had been graced with.
Tell me high paid staff of the City of Gilroy, how would you like this done to your back yard. One very important City of Gilroy employee, said something like, “I don’t think we took into consideration the impact of what it would do to your homes!”
Oh, by the way, did I mention the 10-foot-tall high fence between the new neighbors and myself?
It’s too late for the three of us, but its not to late to stop the insanity of the City of Gilroy Planning Department on other properties.
Crystal Mickler, Gilroy
Submitted Tuesday, July 13 to ed****@****ic.com.
