By LYNN HANRAHAN
Los Alamos
Thank you Mr. Chandler for keeping us up to date about what our County is considering regarding ADUs. You can already hear the cries of NIMBY in certain political circles who believe any development is good. But take a walk around your neighborhood and take a deep breath.
I might be mistaken but didn’t the modern nuisance issue grow out of the efforts of a local realtor on Walnut Street about twenty years ago trying to clean up (gentrify) the neighborhood a bit? A close neighbor of hers ran a business out of their home which required them to have lots of vehicles – they took up twenty four parking spaces.
The family with all the vehicles were my kids best friends. I was called to appear as a character witness in the resulting trial but I really can’t remember how it all ended. The current ADU debate presumes each family will have one vehicle. Good luck with that.
The houses where we live now are nice. Those that go on the market most frequently tend to be near properties with lots of vehicles.
When I’m not living here I live where ADUs have run wild and destroyed what used to be a lovely, pokey little village. Housing in Europe makes housing here seem simple. Regulations the EU inflicts upon villages promotes globalization at the expense of any semblance of local autonomy. You do as told or else.
It’s sort of like that Jimmy Stewart Christmas movie where when a bell rings an angel gets her wings. Whenever a little old lady dies in Alpine Austria, earth movers move in, houses are demolished, and bloated ADUs appear. Laws govern some setbacks but overhanging decks, extreme amounts of traffic, and environmental degradation abound.
It’s scary for kids to walk to school. The enjoyment of one’s property is severely compromised. After a summer of smelling sausage every evening a few years ago because of a grill on a deck of an ADU a few feet from my bedroom window I have found veganism to be much more palatable – oops, I must be a NIMBY!
Now let’s return to Los Alamos. We’re supposed to revile Lisa Shin and dismiss a grown woman with a medical practice as a distraction. Never mind the muted misogyny and, yes, I know, that her political opinions are far right but I would like to thank her, too, for taking the time to point out how convenient it is for local political hopefuls that decisive votes on the onerous Nuisance Code occur after the election.
We’re supposed to trust and have faith that certain candidates have our best interest at heart. Sorry, fat chance. I have written letters and made a point to reach out to local Democrats on Council for the past six years and, frankly, I’m done. This time around my only consideration is property rights.
Last summer’s rains encouraged the Siberian Elm next door to produce probably billions of seedlings. As I weeded them from the rock garden I couldn’t help but notice the little white car full of county development agents staring at a neighbor’s tree day, after day, after day. It was truly creepy.
In conclusion, remember to VOTE Los Alamos! Do not allow the Planning and Zoning Board to take over your neighborhood. Do not allow County Development to control your property. Make your voice heard.