WESTFIELD — Neighbors in Westfield do not want the city to re-zone an area where developers want to build more than 90 homes and new businesses. Some neighbors have concerns about traffic safety and property values.
It's been one year since Steven Myers bought his first home in Westfield.
"The thing that we love the most about Westfield is it's not super developed, at least we kind of had that impression," Myers said.
But now he's concerned about a proposal that's submitted to the city by Pulte Homes asking to re-zone the farmland near his home at 146th Street and Oakridge.
Right now the land is zoned for single-family homes. But the proposal is asking to re-zone it to include homes and space for businesses. It's being called 'Landings at Village Farms.'
John Mueller has lived in the area for 25 years and thinks it will devalue the property.
"Right now the standard zoning is home minimum lot size is 15,000 square feet. The proposal for this project is to change that to 6,000 square feet," Mueller said. "So, a home like what we are looking at here ... for one home lot there would be 2.5 homes in that same footprint."
The plans include building 94 new homes.
Neighbors are now passing out flyers — creating a call to action — for neighbors to get involved. They are signing a petition that has more than 400 signatures, ultimately asking the city to not re-zone the land.
"Two issues, one added traffic on 146 street. Everyone knows we don't need more traffic there," Mueller said. "The second thing we object to in this is for their commercial development. We are already struggling to keep some of the storefronts open in the commercial areas around us, and we just don't think continuing to dilute that isn't anybody's best interest."
A spokeswoman with the City of Westfield says there isn't much they can say at this time because this needs to go through the professional process. However, she did say it's no surprise that the parcel of land would be considered for development. They just need to make sure it is the right development for this area.
A public hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Westfield City Hall on Monday.
RTV6 is still waiting to hear back from Pulte Homes. The newsroom will update viewers with those answers as soon as we hear back.
