Spangler, Kathleen LetterHonorable Mayor and City Council Members
C/o City Clerk
City of Dubuque
50 West 13th St
Dubuque Ia 52001
Dear Mayor and Council Members,
02 JUL 18
City :'
tA
My name is Kathleen Spangler. I live at 3475 Sunset Park Circle.
I am writing to express my concern regarding a scheduled street construction project that
would extend Bonson Road. Tom Marty, who also lives on this block, was told by the
city engineering department that this project was scheduled for 2004 and would extend
the existing portion of the street approximately 1 to 1 ½ blocks north from the
intersection of Megan Street to the start of Judge Lane.
This street extension would be directly behind my home. The masons for my concern are
as follows:
This very expensive project will serve only one property owner - Randy Judge.
There is no tangible benefit to any other taxpayer at this time. The high cost of
this project is wasteful when considering the common good of the taxpayers of
Dubuque.
This project will seriously affect the value of my property and that of my
neighbors. I am told that the project will require the installation ora large and
expensive retaining wall running most of the length of the east side of lhe project.
All or most of the trees on that strip of land will be removed to conslruct the
wall. These trees provide invaluable shade and privacy to my property. It will
remove the natural slope to the existing property and create an undesirable and
unsafe vertical drop off of almost t0 feet along much of its length. This drop off
will force the homeowners to go to the additional expense of erecting fences
along the top to protect the neighborhood children.
This project will create an island which sandwiches our homes in the middle of
two busy streets. This removes the normal buffer zone that exists in the mar of
most of the homes in this city.
I am also told that this project will require the installation of sidewalks at some
point and that the bordering property owners will be responsible for the
installation, maintenance and clearing of these sidewalks. A rear sidewalk at the
bottom ora 10-foot wall certainly offers no benefit to any property owner. As I
do not possess a snow blower, this would create a real hardship for me.
5. Finally, I am told that a sizeable portion of the cost of this project would be
assessed to all property owners within 300 feet of the project. This, indeed, adds
injury to insult. The city not only wants'to seriously reduce the value of our
property but wants us to finance the destruction. This would create a serious
financial hardship for myself and many other property owners on the street.
I respectfully request that you confer with the city engineering department and cancel
this project for the above stated reasons. If Randy Judge needs water run to his
property, I think he should pay for it himself. If the land is ever sold to a developer
and Bonson Road is opened to Kennedy Road, I feel the developer should pay for ali
street improvements - not already overburdened taxpayers.
I also respectfully ask whether an environmental impact study has been done in
regards to this project. If one hasn't been completed, I feel the City of Dubuque has
a responsibility to do so. The trees not only provide home owners with shade and
privacy, but also are a haven for many forms of wild life and birds. For many of us,
the privacy and park like settings of our back yards was one of the main reasons we
purchased the property.
I request that you inform me as to your decision in this matter.
Thank you.
Kathleen Spangler
3475 Sunset Park Circle
Dubuque Iowa 52002
(563)582-3812
cc: Michael VanMilligen
Michael Koch