Hundreds of White City residents voice opinion on General Plan proposal
Mar 27, 2018, 11:42 PM | Updated: 11:49 pm
WHITE CITY — Keep White City the way it is. That was the message to the metro township’s planning commission from hundreds of residents Tuesday night. The large turnout was in response to a General Plan proposal sent out by the commission earlier in the month.
Resident David Blue was one of dozens who signed up to speak in opposition.
“What I love about this town, is it’s quiet and it’s a peaceful little community,” Blue said.
After taking a look at a map of the proposal, which would change some residential areas into commercial or high density areas, Blue decided to share his opinion during the public comments portion of Tuesday’s meeting.
“I didn’t come here to move after five years,” he told the planning commission. “This plan would hurt me and many neighbors who I love.”
Another resident said she disagreed with the proposal for changing areas into mixed-use land.
“The verbiage in it supports rezoning my properties,” she said.
One resident expressed concern about the way the proposal was communicated to residents.
“If you helped us understand that we’re not going to lose our homes, then I think this whole process may have gone a lot smoother,” he said.
The metro township has 1,760 homes and 6,200 residents. The current land use is primarily residential with a small agricultural zone and one commercial parcel. Since becoming a township last year, the planning commission has been tasked with creating a general plan for the area.
Mayor Paulina Flint said the proposed plan could and will most likely change after so many residents voiced their concerns with it.
“It really hurts my heart and soul to see this happen,” Flint said. “No one is here to take their property, we are not condemning it, we are not making plans to do — this plan.”
Residents hope it is a plan the planning commission will move away from.
“I would like to think that they respect our decision as a community and will follow through and leave it alone,” Blue said.
The planning commission has held three public meetings on the proposal and has already received 200 written comments. They said they would be looking through those and regroup during their next work meeting at the end of April.
