Harris Avenue proposed Dorm Duplexes: Neighbors, Please Express Your Concern. · · · The former Child Craft Day Care at 718, 720 and 722 Harris Avenue has been demolished, the 3 fifty-foot lots have been cleared, and in the near future the building plans will be reviewed by the Planning Department. These lots are across the street from Lee Elementary School. Zoning for these lots is SF-3-CO-NP, which permits six three-bedroom, two-bath duplex units, thus housing possibly 18 unrelated adults on this site. The developers plan to build in this configuration. The developers, Cutsinger and Cole, have obtained approval for 18 on-site parking spaces. They have a history of leasing to students with maximized occupancy. Dorm duplexes have devastated the Northfield neighborhood and other Austin neighborhoods and could have a very negative impact on Harris Avenue, Lee Elementary, and the Hancock neighborhood communities. See photographs of these types of duplexes at: http://www.northfieldna.org/stealthdorms.html Most importantly, being diagonally across the street from Lee Elementary School, the increased traffic is a danger to our children who walk and bike to and from the school. Lee Elementary School PTA has voiced its concerns to the developers. The proposed duplexes are not compatible with the Hancock Neighborhood Plan, which has the goal of preserving family and adult single-family, residential homes. It came as a surprise to many in the neighborhood that the zoning of the three Harris Avenue lots allows for 3 duplexes. This is true of most of the neighborhood. The proposed parking would be in carports off an alley that is less than one block long, and the exit and entrance of the vehicles will be on Woodrow Avenue, which is a main walking and biking path for school children going to Lee Elementary and the Lee playground. There are 6 children that live off of Woodrow and the adjoining 700 block of Carolyn Avenue. Many more children use Woodrow and Carolyn as their main street for accessing Lee Elementary. The City of Austin had previously considered using the end of Carolyn Avenue as a staging area for the 32nd Street overhaul, which would have included the use of Woodrow, but after doing a safety study at the request of concerned neighbors, the City agreed that there was a safety concern for the children and families going to and from Lee Elementary and withdrew the Carolyn and Woodrow Avenue proposed staging site from the plans. The same issues and concerns would be true with adding the potential 18+ vehicles entering and exiting the alley onto Woodrow for travel to Harris and Carolyn Avenues. The Northfield Neighborhood Association has said it: "Having so many unrelated people on one "single-family" property creates a parking

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problem. It creates a traffic problem. It creates a trash problem. It creates a noise problem. It creates a strain on infrastructure designed for singlefamily occupancy. And it creates a safety hazard for both the residents of the stealth dorm as well as surrounding neighbors." http://www.northfieldna.org/stealthdorms.html · Kevin Cutsinger and his wife, Wanda, own other properties at 2917 Rio Grande, 306 Franklin Blvd., and 5201 Leralyn. In addition, a Cutsinger Custom Homes sign holds a demolition permit at 923 E. 37th Street, and the single-family home located there has been removed. Ross Cole manages numerous other properties in the Northfield area. Write or email the developers and ask them to reconfigure the floor plans and marketing plan so the housing will attract families and adults, for which there is a great demand. The developers are: Mr. Kevin Cutsinger: kcutsinger@cutsingercustomhomes.com; 1979 CR 200 Liberty Hill, TX 78642, and Mr. Ross Cole: ross@austincentricrealty.com 502 West 30th Street, Austin, TX 78705 Their lender is: R Bank Texas, attn Mike Shaw http://www.rbanktexas.com/site/about.html Their architects is: Heidi Goebel 7505 Grover, Austin, TX 78757 Send a copy to the Austin City Council: http://austintexas.gov/mail/all-council-members And write or email the City Council and ask the City of Austin to exercise its full power and authority to immediately impose conditions on this and similar developments to protect the interests of our children and our neighborhoods.

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