HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-571 - Appeal: Large Scale Development-2024-0038: (151 W. Dickson St./Trinitas Ventures, 484) (10)
CityClerk
From:Cameron Murray <camerondmurray@gmail.com>
Sent:Tuesday, May 20, 2025 3:18 PM
To:Agenda Item Comment
Subject:Comment on agenda item to create a new zoning district
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Hello,
I am writing to submit a public comment regarding the ongoing debate about the proposed student
housing on Dickson Street and the proposal to create a new set of regulations for private dormitories. I
am concerned that we are moving in the complete wrong direction to address housing affordability,
repeating mistakes that can be seen in many cities throughout the country.
First, I have been dumbfounded by the response to the development at 151 W Dickson st. I have read
through the documents on the city council agenda, and it would appear that a development that meets
all city code requirements is being held up over the concerns of around 15 citizens. The city attorney is
indicating that attempts to circumvent our code could put the city at some legal risk. Frankly, I am
amazed that the council was giving into this NIMBYism. You can find this same thread of resistance to
change and myopic thinking in many cities with skyrocketing housing prices. I assume (or I hope) that the
city will allow this development to continue as it has legally checked all of the boxes.
The more important issue is the proposal to introduce new zoning regulations. My major concern is the
following text, but the proposal in general is a bad idea in my opinion. The section I mentioned: "General
compatibility with adjacent properties and surrounding neighborhood will be measured by analyzing
surrounding land uses, scale, neighborhood character, and concentration of other student-oriented
developments." We are in a growing city and there is general consensus that the density of housing
should be increased. This kind of wording, however, increases the odds that our housing density will
remain stagnant. We need to be flexible to the housing needs of the community (including students) to
keep housing prices down. I am certain that new student housing reduces the demand (placed by
students) on traditional apartments and rental houses - thus improving the supply (and therefore the
cost) for full-time residents of Fayetteville. Hand wringing about the "character" of existing developments
is the hallmark of cities where housing prices are untenable.
We have real-world examples that we can follow. We can Austin, Texas, who has managed to actually
reduce housing prices by reducing regulations that empower NIMBY residents in favor of housing friendly
development. Or we could be like San Francisco, where housing continues to be more expensive for
typical residents while the regulations primarily protect the property value for already wealthy
homeowners. Fayetteville will not be improved by throwing up new road blocks every time a new
development is proposed. We can bring down our housing prices and fix our housing crisis by allowing a
wide variety of new residential construction throughout the city. Or we could make the city more and
more expensive by making it harder to build new housing.
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Thank you for your time.
Cameron Murray, Fayetteville ward 3 resident
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