HomeMy WebLinkAboutHS202000013 Correspondence 2020-03-19Rebecca Ragsdale
From: Tilman Neighbor <tilmanneighbor20@gmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2020 9:13 AM
To: Rebecca Ragsdale
Subject: Homestay Exemption Notice
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Dear Ms. Ragsdale,
I truly appreciate the concern for community input in consideration for exemptions to Homestay rules. We
recently received your letter in regards to a neighboring property, HS202000013 at 1315 Tilman Rd. and wish
to express our thoughts on the matter through email, as we wish to keep our comments anonymous for
obvious reasons.
In reading through your letter, I was struck by the 'rural area' zoning definition, which is exactly what attracted
us to the Ivy area- the thought of preserving and protecting agricultural, open space.. and scenic
resources. To be honest, the subject property essentially operating as the Tilman Weekend Motel does not
belong in this zoning category. At a moments notice on any given weekend, a typical caravan of 6 to 10 cars
roll in to town- on one forgettable occasion there were actually 20+ cars parked throughout the yard with an
ensuing loud party. With the large number of visitors always staying at this property, it transforms an otherwise
peaceful quiet street into a commercial event space. Outdoor/indoor stereo systems play late into the night,
people shouting, partying, occasionally fireworks, cars coming and going at all hours, turning around in
neighbors driveways, etc. Please consider - every surrounding neighbor has children- many of them with small
children, and every weekend or week-long throng brings a large party of who -knows -who nextdoor. What
comfort are neighbors to have when a crowd of new strangers shows up on the block? Have these people
been vetted? Any kind of background check? Not exactly comforting.
In consideration of the neighboring property line, not only is the loud pool area less than 50' to the shared
property line, but the house itself and driveway along with the traffic of people coming and going are also less
than 50' away from the neighboring property line- far from the minimum 125' recommended by county
standards. Further, in consideration to the actual neighboring house at 1303, the commercial homestay and
driveway are very close to being only 125' from the physical structure of 1303 itself. I believe the county was
wise to consider a minimum 125' setback from property lines, and especially in this case, where such a large
property and number of guests stay, the setback should not be compromised and rather be enforced. It is for
this very situation that I believe a healthy minimum setback is prudent and reasonable. While I could
understand a small quaint cottage receiving an exemption to operate within the 125' minimum, a larger
operating commercial space like this, which is even less than 50 ft. proximity to a property line should not be
granted any special exemption.
Please share our thoughts with those appropriate on the board. As mentioned, we would like to remain
anonymous and as such will not be attending the April 1 meeting in person.
Thank you,
Tilman Neighbor