Dangerous Milton Intersection Concerns! Immediate Action Required!

From Tina D'Aversa

Dear Neighbor,

I hope your 2010 Summer has started out well and you are keeping cool.
The school year is coming to a close and the students are ready for a well-deserved break!

I do not write to you often but when I see an issue that must be attended to, I want to make sure you are aware of the impact to you and all of Milton.

Tonight, the Milton City Council will vote on a proposed rezoning that could lead to a dangerous intersection becoming even more dangerous to our community.

A gas station is proposed at the corner of Highway 9 and Bethany Road. This intersection is the second most dangerous intersection within the city limits of Milton according to the Milton Transportation Planning consultants: Kimberly Horne Associates.

Some of your concerned neighbors have put together the information below. Please read it and please attend the meeting tonight, Monday, May 17, 2010, and voice your concern or just show your support for Mayor Lockwood and the city council to deny this application for an unsafe and dangerous use in an already dangerous intersection of Milton.

From concerned Neighbors for the safety of the Highway 9 and surrounding community.

There is power in numbers and visibility!!

We need your help in 3 ways - Attend meeting - sign petition - send letters to City Council

At the March 15 City Council meeting, Council voted to send the gas station proposal back through the review process (City Staff analysis, Planning Commission (PC) recommendation and finally back to City Council) so the revised site plan could be analyzed. In this revised plan, the applicant has removed the need for the landscape variance. The only thing the applicant is now requesting is the rezoning.

Upon review of the new site plan, City of Milton Staff is now recommending approval for the gas station application. The Planning Commission reviewed the proposal on April 27, and based largely on safety concerns, voted 4-2 to recommend denial of the application. The City Council will vote on this application on Monday, May 17, and the vote could easily go either way.

We only have 10 minutes to present our opposition at the City Council meeting. We will have a PowerPoint presentation delivered by pre-determined, practiced speakers. We are not attempting to keep anyone from speaking, but like any presentation, we have to be prepared and strategic in our comments. The best way for individuals/citizens to communicate their concerns and opposition is by writing a letter, signing the petition, and showing up to the meeting!

1. GO TO THE MEETING - WE ARE REQUESTING THAT AT LEAST ONE INDIVIDUAL FROM EACH HOME ATTEND THE MEETING ON MONDAY 5-17-2010.

Monday, May 17 - 6:00 pm@ Milton City Hall Council Chambers/Municipal Court (13000 Deerfield Parkway Suite 107)
See a Map and Get Directions Here!
LET'S FILL THE ROOM!

2. SIGN THE PETITION - Please sign the petition if you have not already done so.
http://www.gopetition.com/online/34575.html

WE NEED AS MANY SIGNATURES AS WE CAN GET!!!

3. WRITE A LETTER
We would welcome and encourage you to please let your individual voice be heard. We encourage you to write your own letter of opposition. The group has provided a very generic template for your use and personalization with your own words - please personalize so it will not seem like a carbon copy letter (see attached). If you wrote letters in the past, please revisit those and send again!!

Please email your letters to:
City Manager - Chris Lagerbloom - Chris.Lagerbloom@cityofmiltonga.us
Lynn Tully - lynn.tully@cityofmiltonga.us
Burt Hewitt - burt.hewitt@cityofmiltonga.us
Bill Lusk - bill.lusk@cityofmiltonga.us
Karen Thurman - karen.thurman@cityofmiltonga.us
Julie Zahner Bailey - julie.zahnerbailey@cityofmiltonga.us
Joe Longoria - joe.longoria@cityofmiltonga.us
Alan Tart - alan.tart@cityofmiltonga.us
Mayor Joe Lockwood - joe.lockwood@cityofmiltonga.us

We really need to have residents in attendance on Monday, May 17. We need to demonstrate in the 3 ways listed above the number of citizens in opposition to this proposal. Let us be blunt, approval of this project will not be good for our neighborhood and area. We need your help!

On behalf of my family and your neighbors!

Thank you!
Protecting and Preserving ALL of Milton,
Tina D'Aversa