<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1hmMqB_0vnzYk0E00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1hmMqB_0vnzYk0E00" width="414" height="583" ><figcaption>Tommy Crabtree</figcaption></figure>Neighboring homeowners have publicly shared concerns with a city advisory board about how a proposed 14-lot townhouse development would impact them.Yukon builder/developer Tommy Crabtree of Crabtree Homes has filed plans with the City of Yukon for Harvest Landing in the 1100 block of Cameo Drive adjacent to the Kingsway Addition on S Yukon Parkway.Crabtree told the Yukon Planning Commission he would build 14 “upscale townhomes” on the now-vacant site.“They’re going to be nice,” he said.The proposal calls for each single-family townhouse to be about 1,700 square feet with three bedrooms.The 1.48-acre property, which is owned by Claud A. and Betty K. Cypert, is now zoned C-O (commercial office). It is directly south of Conrad Marr Drug.To accomplish his goal for Harvest Landing, Crabtree is seeking approval of a preliminary plat and rezoning (to medium density residential). The Yukon Planning Commission will make a recommendation to the Yukon City Council, which will have the final say.Crabtree said this townhome development will have a “community concept” like Oklahoma City’s Wheeler District, which he believes is needed and would “fit well” in Yukon.The proposed plat shows 14 attached townhomes in three buildings – two “four-plex” and one “six-plex” units with single-car garages. The exterior would be a mix of siding and masonry.Common areas would be utilized for a private drive, guest parking, possible community garden, and/or dog park.Crabtree believes residents of the 14 townhomes would generate less traffic than if an office building was built on the site.Yukon city planner Jessica Bloye said this is an “appropriate land use” for the property. She did say the proposal exceeds the Yukon Comprehensive Plan’s “density expectation” for residential developments – which is 1 to 2 dwelling units per lot and less than 5 units per acre.At Bloye’s request, the Yukon Planning Commission took no action on the proposal at its September meeting so Crabtree could update and resubmit a Special Planned Unit Development (SPUD) application to meet current city code requirements.Yukon Planning Commission Vice Chairman Jeff Geis said there is a “restricted” amount of commercial property left to build in Yukon. Geis emphasized he likes the design and community concept of the proposed Harvest Landing development.“You build beautiful things and everything you do is high quality and benefits Yukon,” Geis told Crabtree. “It’s nothing against you. I really have a hard time with (townhouses) at this spot, because it is commercial.”<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2fKy4a_0vnzYk0E00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2fKy4a_0vnzYk0E00" width="582" height="777" ><figcaption>Melissa Barlow</figcaption></figure>Longtime Yukon resident Melissa Barlow said she and her husband Richard support keeping commercial office zoning on the Cameo Drive property. Fifteen years ago, they bought a home to raise their family directly east on Empress Circle in the Kingsway Addition.“We know we want to stay in our home and continue to raise our family by having grandkids come over,” said Barlow, the head principal of Yukon High School. “The thought of having a multi-family unit on the other side of that property was not something that we ever realized would be a potential. And now we’re here.”The Barlows don’t want someone living in a two-story townhome looking over the fence into their backyard while they’re in their pool.“I respect Crabtree Homes and the work that they do,” Barlow said. “They build beautiful properties. I just don’t think, at this time, multi-family units backing up to my property … is the appropriate placement for that, especially in our town that is seeking revenue from taxes.”Darrell Manning and his wife live in a Kingsway Drive home that backs up to the proposed townhome site.Manning, who is retired, said he spends a lot of time in his backyard with his dogs.“I don’t like the idea of having a two-story building that can look into my backyard,” he told planning commissioners. “Because we’re restricted to a six-foot fence. It does have some vegetation.“They’re proposing to put 14 units in the same space as four houses, as far as length of property. In my opinion, that’s way too high density to be allowed in that small a space. Commercial property doesn’t bother me back there because they close normally in the evenings. And we still have our privacy.”Emma Lee Manning said homeowners in the Kingsway subdivision “take pride in ownership” of their properties. She too supports the Cameo Drive site remaining for commercial use.“If you put those 14 buildings in there, who’s going to take care of the (townhome) property?” she said. “Five years down the line, it’s not going to have the same value – and our homes aren’t going to have the same value either because of that property being put in there.”In response, Crabtree emphasized the 14 townhouses would be individually owned.“If you own it, typically you maintain it for your own value,” he said. “There will be an HOA (homeowners association), with covenants and restrictions.”Barlow pointed out there is nothing that would keep someone from buying townhomes and then renting them out.AGAINST THE ‘CRAMMING’Ed Eubanks, of Abbeywood Drive in the Kingsridge Addition, took issue with the proposed density and changing from commercial zoning.“Cramming 14 houses into that tiny area takes away from an opportunity that a business could come in and bring tax dollars to our community, which would benefit all of us. Not just one property owner or 14 property owners,” Eubanks said.“I am a business owner. I know a lot of other business owners that want to come into Yukon. The space is just very limited, and to give up what little we have to put more housing on, I just don’t think it serves a purpose there.”Yukon Planning Commission Chairman Jarrid Wright referred to the Yukon Comprehensive Plan, which was updated last year.“The Comprehensive Plan says we need more commercial land (and) we need to protect our commercial land,” Wright said. “But then, on the flip side of the page, it says we need more affordable housing. So, you can see where this is a tough issue for us.”Elynn Wagner, of Kingsway Drive, is another longtime property owner who backs up to the proposed townhouse development. She expressed strong opposition to having occupants of two-story townhomes looking into her backyard “oasis.”Another Kingsway homeowner, Kenneth Floyd, reiterated concerns expressed about lower property values due to townhomes.“I think you’ll end up losing people who want to live in that neighborhood because there is that right behind it,” Floyd said. “They don’t want people staring down in their backyard. I think it’s a lot of townhouses for a small area; it would be better served as commercial.”Sondra Remer lives in the Ranchwood South Addition across Yukon Parkway from the proposed Harvest Landing development.“I look out of my back door and have seen this field since I’ve lived here,” said Remer, of Lancaster Drive.“I don’t want to look at townhouses personally, and I don’t think my neighbors do either. … I think it’s going to bring down property value. And I flat don’t want to look at it.”Planning Commissioner Steven Jones said he likes the concept and design – but not the location.“I do think we need something like this in our city,” Jones said of Harvest Landing.“There’s some assisted living (Victorian Estates) in the back there. So, I’m concerned with the density and commercial property in Yukon is hard to find at this point.”</div></body>

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Planners hear request for new townhomes

Neighboring homeowners have publicly shared concerns with a city advisory board about how a proposed 14-lot townhouse development would impact them. Yukon builder/developer Tommy Crabtree of Crabtree Homes has filed plans with the City of Yukon for Harvest Landing in the 1100 block of Cameo Drive adjacent to the Kingsway Addition on S Yukon Parkway.

Planners hear request for new townhomes

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