Nov. 4 Decision Expected On Housing Development

County commissioners will decide next month whether to approve a scaled-down version of Morningside Heights, a proposed housing development near Eighth and Barker.

It has long been opposed by neighboring landowners, and the original plan was nixed by commissioners last year.

But now, neighbors have reached an agreement with developer Richard Dahm that Morningside would be 147 residential lots, not 335, and that zoning wouldn’t be changed.

If the project is approved, a suit filed against the county by Dahm and his partners would be dropped.

Commissioners will announce their decision on Nov. 4.

They heard about the compromise agreement at a meeting Tuesday.

Members of the Micaview and Saltese landowners groups aren’t ecstatic about the development. But they conceded that a smaller, less-dense development would be easier to live with than what Dahm had originally proposed.

Micaview landowners had worried about losing Greenacres’ rural character. Saltese landowners were worried about traffic.

“They recognized the risks of continuing with the lawsuit,” said county attorney Tim Durkin.

If commissioners don’t approve the new plan and Dahm should win his suit, he could build his original, 335-lot development. And the area’s zoning would change from semi-rural to residential, which residents don’t want.

As currently proposed, there would be fewer, but larger, lots. Lot sizes would increase from 10,000 square feet to a minimum of 15,000 square feet.

Some still worry, though, despite the compromise.

“Probably our biggest concern yet … is whether we will suffer contamination of our wells from storm water run-off,” said Paul May, who lives south of Dahm’s property. He said he also worries about a new housing project’s impact on schools.

The whole tussle began last year. Dahm’s plan was approved by the hearing examiner, but was appealed to county commission by neighbors. Commissioners heard the appeal in November, and rejected the plan in December.

Dahm and partners Richard and Ruth Jarvis sued in January, naming the Micaview and Saltese groups as “necessary parties.” A second suit also challenged the county’s urban growth boundaries.

According to Durkin, that’s because the Dahm plan was approved before the boundaries were. If the first suit were to fail, the developers feared their whole plan would be barred by the new growth boundaries.

“If it were filed today, it would be denied on that basis alone,” Durkin said. “Their rights were vested.”

, DataTimes