Oakwood Behind Deerpath

By guest contributor James Shearron

In 1979, domino rezoning in the Vine-Oakwood Historic District razed an important small historic house, repeated recently at 334 E. Westminster with the Quinlan coach house.

Unfortunately, our multifamily codes have not improved or grown with the times since the 70s. In fact single family homeowners adjacent to any future multifamily are in more jeopardy today with the advent of unregulated roof top decks.   

Actually, two houses were razed on Oakwood to make room for this apartment building.  An ideal case for what should have been, and could be today, the application of Form Based Codes to limit building type and scale on transitional lots with some kind of “townhouse” buffer.  Buffers to preserve the neighborhood, protect the neighbors’ home values, and maintain the aesthetic landscape for all Lake Foresters. 

Whose property values do we sacrifice to please big-box developers by not updating our codes to meet the changing needs of the community?  We don't give our government the codes they need to protect our property, just boards governing the visual and angry neighbors.  

Our historic districts that ring the Central Business District are in grave danger if we do nothing to address the gaping holes in our multifamily zoning codes, and stop domino rezoning.