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To Arcata City Council —

I am a 38yr homeowner on the Northwest side of Daniels St who is opposed to the
proposed design of the Greenview complex directly behind my home. I will send you a
copy of my letter to the planning commission.

What I want to address is the obvious blatant favoritism the planning department and
commission showed towards the developer, Kyle Boughton and his Greenview complex
before the meeting even started Tuesday night July 25, 2023. First is the fact that they
all got everything formalized and approved well before the meeting, then gave us, the
community, only two weeks notice to prepare a fight. I don’t think it’s a coincidence
that the meeting was scheduled during the summer when many of the families affected
are away for vacations. Once I was seated waiting for the meeting to start, there were
employees of the city, planning dept and commission laughing about the fact that the
project is a done deal. It was absolutely appalling! When I spoke up telling them it was
offensive, they quickly realized they were overheard and apologized but the damage
was done. We were being humored by thinking our voices mattered. Mind you, not one
of us asked for the development not to happen, we all understand the need for housing.

We were asking for it to be in harmony with the surrounding one story homes and for
the safety of all of us, mostly the many children in our neighborhood. Their conspired
behavior was beyond shady.

After the commission listened to our valid concerns and started asking questions about
redesigning the formation of the build so we don’t have strangers in two story units
looking directly into our one story homes TEN FEET away, David Loya quickly steered
them “back on track” to what was a preplanned approval process. The only person who
ultimately showed any concern was Judith Mayer, who questioned the developer on not
being forthright about his future plans on the east side of the single parcel. Kyle
Boughton responded with a veiled threat of building three story units instead of two
story on the east side of the property should we continue to protest his design. There is
not a single one of you or them that would be okay with this happening to your/their
families privacy and safety, I guarantee it. As I spoke about in the meeting, being a
survivor of sexual assault, I am absolutely terrified about strangers being able to look at
me so closely (ten feet away) at all times. I wish for everyone involved to know of the
lifelong fear a woman has after being violently raped. Being disabled and not able to
physically fight back anymore makes me even more terrified. Instead of sincerely
listening to our concerns, the planning department and commission spent the majority
of the meeting discussing the welfare of bicycles in the complex. It was a slap in the face
to those of us who’ve lived here for decades, pay our taxes and sink a lot of money into
our local community!

Our concern now is would it even be worth appealing this decision since the powers
that be are obviously in each other’s pockets? Are we speaking to deaf ears? It feels very
crooked to us all. High density housing is appropriate around the university, downtown
and areas that are being looked at in the Gateway project. Our neighborhood is at the
very west end of the city where it is strictly quiet family homes. I am literally begging
the council to please step in to help find a compromise that will benefit everyone. Prove
to us that all community members matter. I look forward to your response regarding the
legitimacy of an appeal and I appreciate your time.

Sincerely,
Christine Perry