|
The developer of a retail and office
building planned for a site on Cerrillos
Road just south of downtown plans to
apply for a building permit despite continuing
criticism from some residential
neighbors of the project, the developer's
attorney said Saturday.
"We're obviously not going to satisfy everybody," Karl Sommer said. "My client has made substantial and expensive changes to the building." Sommer is the attorney for designeribuilder Roger Hunter, who plans to buy the property at 631 Cerrillos Road and put up an 18,600-square-foot building there. The site, for 20 years the location of Quick & Easy Gas, is zoned for commercial development and is within the Cerrillos Road Subdistrict, rather than the Historic District. Hunter's partner is Kenneth Trotter, the owner of Custom Hardware and Fixtures, now located at Sanbusco Market Center. Hunter and Trotter both plan to occupy part of the building and lease out the rest. At a meeting in July, Sommer made a presentation about the project in compliance with the city's Community Impact Statement Ordinance, which requires notification of the neighborhoods by developers before they begin their pro- jects. Among the criticisms made by residents at that time were that the building should be reduced from three to two stories and that it should be relocated on the lot. Neighbors also said the back of the building was too close to residential areas. At a second meeting, held last week, "Essentially (the developers) had not changed a thing," said Laura Wilson, a resident of the neighborhood. "They lowered the height somewhat and the footprint changed a little bit, but it's essentially the same thing they showed us before, and that's not satisfactory." Wilson said there was additional concern about the lack of drainage plans, possible damage to an adjacent acequia and the lack of handicap parking. Sommer said the developers redesigned the building; reducing the size by about 2,500 square feet. They also dropped the plan for a third floor and added a base- ment instead. "It is apparent not everyone is going to be satisfied with the plan, which is typical- ly the case in Santa Fe," Sommer said. "I think it's a disagreement about the aesthet- ics of the building. What it comes down to is a difference opinion." Sommer added: "The design is way better than what's there now, which is a piece of contaminated dirt" left over from the old gas station. Sommer said previously that the building couldn't be relocated on the property because if it were too far back toward the property line, there would be no room for access to the back of the building. Wilson said no one at last week's meeting said a building shouldn't be built on the lot. "It's just a matter of how it's done," she said. "It could be an attractive addition to the community as part of the continuing streetscape on Cerrillos Road," she said. Plans for the building will be considered by the city's Permit and Development Review Division, which issues building' permits, the Planning Commission and the Santa Fe City Council. |