Hello Councilmember O’Brien,

I wanted to alert you to the latest efforts to claim that microhousing is out of scale with surrounding buildings.

As you said, neighbors often point out what they call “bad buildings” as the basis for their opposition to this product. But please see the attached e-mail thread about a project at 2371 Franklin in Eastlake. They want a “poster boy” and here it is:

“We at SSU are finally getting around to addressing some of the messages from Eastlake folks about the monster project at 2371 Franklin Ave East, which is very close to your home.”

Monster? Really?

Here’s the building across the street

I’m pointing this out because taken out of context these kinds of claims by the neighborhood can be misleading and downright dishonest. This is often (if not always) the argument for restrictions and design review.

The building is a great building and will house 39 people sustainably for years to come; and there was only one house there before that was falling down.

This is exactly why we’re skeptical of exposing these projects to design review, and we hope that when neighbors say that a project is “bad” that you and Council staff will take the time to appreciate the context of the project.

Sincerely,

Roger Valdez