Clovis Commission denies zoning change request

Many protesters were just following the herd

From the Clovis News Journal - Following a lengthy discussion on development versus wishes of the residents next to those developments, the Clovis City Commission denied a request to change 17 lots at the Horse Run Subdivision into 31 lots for townhouses. Commissioners, in a 7-1 vote, gave concerns of a heavy protest rate from residents in the subdivision, and the fact that the Planning and Zoning Commission declined to act on the request. Kenneth Jones outlined to commissioners a plan to convert the 17 lots at the subdivision into 31 lots for townhomes with a value of around $160,000. It required a zone change from multi-family residential to planned unit development. “This is not a low-income project,” Jones said, noting that the townhouses would be sales and not rentals. The request had a 45 percent protest from property owners within 100 feet of the lots, but two of the 16 residents who came to the meeting noted they signed a petition against the subdivision after the item had gone through the Planning and Zoning Commission. Greg Haverkorn, who has lived in the subdivision for less than a year and was speaking on behalf of protesting residents in the subdivision, said the requested change in zoning would lower the personal value of the neighborhood, even as Jones contended the appraised values would rise. Haverkorn noted that when he purchased his home, he was under the impression townhouses would not come in and, “hands down,” he would not have purchased the house if he knew it would become a “hodgepodge” of single-family homes and townhouses. Read more

Clovis Commission denies zoning change request