Getting the Benefits of Growth Without Sacrificing the Verona Greenbelt, Our Rural Heritage & Quality of Life

If you live near the greenbelt separating the Town and City of Verona, then you likely benefit from views of farms, forests and other rural vistas from your home.  However, you may lose these benefits if the proposed Marty Property development is approved.  It is for this reason that we ask you to sign our petition urging the City of Verona to reject intense, overdevelopment of our greenbelt and other rural lands in favor of conservation subdivisions and other options allowing us to gain the benefits of responsible growth without jeopardizing our quality of life.

 

The plan below is from a 2016 agreement between the Town and City of Verona.  The blue Area B, is in the Town of Verona and is zoned for Transitional Agriculture which allows one house for every eight acres.  These lands are mostly farm and forest constituting a greenbelt surrounding the City of Verona.

 

Below is the Marty Property Concept Plan proposing 400 housing units in the northwest portion of Area B.  Instead of one house per 8 acres, as called for in the Town Comprehensive Plan, nearly three units per acre or 24 times more houses are proposed.  We are deeply concerned that if this precedent is set the rest of the Area B greenbelt could be overdeveloped in a similar fashion, which is why we ask you to sign our petition.

 

 

No doubt many of our neighbors living in or near Area B bought their homes because of the rural atmosphere.  They likely relied upon the Town of Verona Comprehensive Plan, assurances from realtors, and other sources that adjoining farm and forest lands would remain rural.

 

We believe it will be a great disservice to our neighbors if the Marty Property overdevelopment is approved.  Fortunately, this development venture is just at the start of the review process.  With your support we believe we can convince decision-makers to limit development on the Marty Property and elsewhere in Area B to a more responsible growth pattern.

 

While growth in Area B should be limited to that called for in the Town Comprehensive Plan, we also realize that spreading houses on eight-acre lots across a farm would eliminate much of the benefits these rural lands provide.

 

Fortunately, the Town plan offers an alternative known as the Conservation Subdivision illustrated below.  Instead of spreading eight-acres lots across a site, homes are clustered on lots as small as a quarter-acre (with public water-sewer) and concentrated on just 20% or less of the land.  This alternative preserves much of the farm and forest while allowing a reasonable amount of growth.

 

 

With highly effective visual buffering around the perimeter of the conservation subdivision, rural views can be preserved along with the value and quality of life of nearby rural homes.  An example of good buffering is pictured below.  However, good buffers alone are not sufficient to preserve farms and rural quality of life unless development densities are kept low.

 

 

It is for these reasons that we ask you to join with your neighbors in urging Verona elected officials to adopt the more reasonable approach to Area B growth recommended above and to begin by rejecting the Marty Property proposal.  To do so sign our petition at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/P5NLRX6.

 

The Alliance was launched by greenbelt residents living near the Marty Property site.  The Alliance now consists of 260 Verona area residents who have signed the petition.  Each of the yellow dots in the aerial below represents a household where a signer(s) lives.  As you can see, most signers live either in the City or the Town of Verona.  It is also evident that the greenbelt area is a valued resource to residents beyond the Town, as an open and natural area that adds to the quality of life. 

 

The specific reasons why so many petition signers support preserving the Verona greenbelt are posted at: https://ceds.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Reasons-For-Signing-the-Verona-Rural-Preservation-Alliance-Petition-8-26-2021.pdf