'Traffic on Courtenay Parkway can be horrendous, and we don’t need a traffic study to validate this fact'
ABOVE VIDEO:Pave over paradise. How do you feel about the proposed 3-story, 222-unit high-density apartment complex being planned for North Merritt Island at North Courtenay Parkway and Pioneer Road? Space Coast Daily’s Giles Malone gets feedback from Space Coast Patriots Mike Wilson and Chelsea True, local homeowners, who are very concerned about traffic congestion issues now and more so about the proposed apartment complex. Concerned residents should call their county commissioners to ask questions.
ABOVE VIDEO:Pave over paradise. How do you feel about the proposed 3-story, 222-unit high-density apartment complex being planned for North Merritt Island at North Courtenay Parkway and Pioneer Road? Space Coast Daily’s Giles Malone gets feedback from Space Coast Patriots Mike Wilson and Chelsea True, local homeowners, who are very concerned about traffic congestion issues now and more so about the proposed apartment complex. Concerned residents should call their county commissioners to ask questions.
Michael G. Wilson, Chairman – Space Coast Patriots: The developer has presented the County with a traffic study that says the extra cars will be no problem at all, but the locals find the data incredulous and are not buying it.
If your quality of life were about to get upended, would you do something about it? Of course, you would.
Read on; this story can apply to anyone in Brevard County.
In a quiet, single-family home community just to the east of Courtenay Parkway, near State Road 528, lie three subdivisions and Lewis Carroll Elementary School.
The main entry point for the school and homes is on a two-lane street named Pioneer Road. Traffic in and out of the neighborhood is congested, especially when school starts and lets out.
Plus, as almost all Islanders can attest, the traffic on Courtenay Parkway can be horrendous, and we don’t need a traffic study to validate this fact.
So, what’s the problem?
A developer has asked the county to rezone an 11.2-acre parcel of land that sits right between the homes and the school. Currently, the parcel is zoned for 5, 2.5-acre home sites or agricultural use.
The Developer wants the parcel rezoned to build a 3-story, 222-unit apartment complex. This apartment would be considered high-density, and the developer has only allowed for 1.7 parking spaces per unit.
Can you see the problem?
And the elephant in the room is the cars from the apartment complex accessing the two-lane road during school hours, coming and going for work and other routine trips all day long.
The developer has presented the County with a traffic study that says the extra cars will be no problem at all, but the locals find the data incredulous and are not buying it.
The Developer has appeared before the County Commission twice to get the parcel rezoned, but has walked away without the rezoning approval they desperately seek.
So, they will try again on May 7 at 5 p.m. in the County Commission Chambers to persuade the Commission, using new information, to rezone the parcel.
In the past, the Developer has seemed to indicate that without building all these units, they cannot make the profit they would like to see hit their coffers.
However, the Commissioners should be unconcerned about helping the Developers make their profit.
Rather, their paramount consideration should be for sensible growth that fits into a single-family home community.
In the end, will the Commission support the residents of the Community, who are clearly opposed to Project 222, or will it side with the Developers?
You can make a difference: call or email all five County Commissioners and tell them to Stop Project 222.
And everyone in the Community should attend the Commission meeting on May 7 to show their support or, in person, tell the Commission they are against the Project. See you there
– Michael G. Wilson, Chairman – Space Coast Patriots
