The City Council voted no and blocked the office building project for good. We protected our neighborhood streets because 169 of you refused to stay silent. Keep an eye on the property records to ensure no new applications pop up for this site.
September 14, 2020
Final supporters
As residents of Balmoral Neighborhood, we petition Memphis City Council to vote “No” on approving the Major Modification to PD 99-362 (Three-Story Office Building at Lynnfield Rd., Quince Rd., and Vassar Dr.). This project is unnecessary and will have an adverse impact on nearby homeowners. If approved, it will permanently depress property values in Balmoral and erode our neighborhood’s safety and livability. It will also reduce the City’s tax base and contribute to a glut of office space.
1. PD 99-362 was originally submitted in 1999 and opposed both by staff of the Office of Planning and Development (OPD) and Balmoral Neighborhood Association (BNA). The Applicant struck a compromise with BNA, reducing the building height from three to two stories and eliminating windows on Vassar Drive to protect nearby homeowners' privacy. The modified plan was approved by the Land Use Control Board (LUCB) and Memphis City Council in 2000.
2. PD 99-362 was never recorded in the Register’s Office and therefore never reflected on the Zoning Atlas. As a result, at least 118 persons who purchased homes near the project were denied knowledge that an approved office building could be built on the site at any time.
3. In 2019, the OPD allowed the current Application to proceed as a Major Modification rather than require application for a new Planned Development (PD). This Major Modification relies on a quirk in the Memphis Zoning Ordinance that permits every PD passed since 1955 to exist in perpetuity unless the City Council specifically attaches a termination date to its approval.
4. The Office of Comprehensive Planning (OCP) has clearly erred in finding this project is consistent with Memphis 3.0. OCP’s false assumptions include:
a. A three story, 30,000+ square foot office building is considered “house scale.”
b. A commercial office building constructed on property zoned exclusively for single family residences since its annexation in 1969 will provide a “buffer” between the neighborhood and existing office buildings fronting Lynnfield Rd. north of Quince Rd.
c. Balmoral Shopping Center, a struggling Anchor in Memphis 3.0 designated as “Sustain” in the Degree of Change provisions, will not be adversely affected by a sizeable commercial office building a half mile away down Quince Rd.
d. Paving 4+ acres of ground at the highest point in the Ridgeway Sensitive Basin study area will not exacerbate flood problems in the neighborhood.
5. There is insufficient demand for 30,000 feet of additional office space in the vicinity. The 600,000 plus square feet of commercial office space within a mile of the proposed project had a pre-COVID-19 vacancy rate of 32%. Demand for office space post-COVID-19 is expected to decrease as companies shift from office-based to work-from-home staffing models. A depressed commercial office space market will further hurt the neighborhood, property values, and City tax revenues.
We respectfully request that the Council honor our appeal and REJECT this Major Modification. We further request that the Council specifically find this Project in its entirety NOT CONSISTENT with Memphis 3.0 in order to give proper guidance to the Office of Comprehensive Planning about interpretation of the Memphis 3.0 Plan.
Updates
July 20, 2020
The city council members are keeping quiet for now so we must make our opposition impossible to ignore. Call your representative today and tell them you oppose the office building project on Lynnfield Road. Post this link on your neighborhood Facebook page to ensure everyone knows what is at stake.
July 20, 2020
The neighbors are waking up and the momentum is building faster than we expected. Call your city council representative today and tell them clearly that our neighborhood needs to come first.
Reached 100 supporters
July 20, 2020
87 Comments
This is a residential area and to prevent heavy traffic through the neighborhood, crime and a reduction in property value the building must not exceed two stories. Each building on the corners of Quince and Lynnfield are one story. This new building should be capatible to all others.
I own and rent the house on the SE corner across the street from this lot. The income from this house is a part of my retirement income. I feel with the decrease in my home value, my rental income also will decrease as will my income to live on.
I am against having large office building at the intersection of Quince and Lynnfield on the southwest side. It’s a quiet neighborhood with lots of children and we don’t need extra traffic or noise from dumpsters, etc. We like the tree barrier there.
We asked the commission to turn down the auto dealerships at Ridgeway and 385, but they were allowed to build businesses there. Now we're asking the city council not to build an office building on Lynnfield. Please let this business find another location rather than this tree lined entrance to the Balmoral neighborhood.
Please do not approve this three story commercial property to be built in Balmoral! Our beautiful and quiet neighborhood will be inundated with more vehicles, cutting through to and from Hwy 385, avoiding the Quince/Ridgeway intersection.
Council members, please consider the longstanding vacancies of office space 1 block north of this proposed development as an indication that this new development is not needed.
There are too many empty office spaces in this area. No need to build new ones! There is an empty lot where Kroger used to be right down the road!! Use that!!
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The City Council voted no and blocked the office building project for good. We protected our neighborhood streets because 169 of you refused to stay silent. Keep an eye on the property records to ensure no new applications pop up for this site.
September 14, 2020
Final supporters
As residents of Balmoral Neighborhood, we petition Memphis City Council to vote “No” on approving the Major Modification to PD 99-362 (Three-Story Office Building at Lynnfield Rd., Quince Rd., and Vassar Dr.). This project is unnecessary and will have an adverse impact on nearby homeowners. If approved, it will permanently depress property values in Balmoral and erode our neighborhood’s safety and livability. It will also reduce the City’s tax base and contribute to a glut of office space.
1. PD 99-362 was originally submitted in 1999 and opposed both by staff of the Office of Planning and Development (OPD) and Balmoral Neighborhood Association (BNA). The Applicant struck a compromise with BNA, reducing the building height from three to two stories and eliminating windows on Vassar Drive to protect nearby homeowners' privacy. The modified plan was approved by the Land Use Control Board (LUCB) and Memphis City Council in 2000.
2. PD 99-362 was never recorded in the Register’s Office and therefore never reflected on the Zoning Atlas. As a result, at least 118 persons who purchased homes near the project were denied knowledge that an approved office building could be built on the site at any time.
3. In 2019, the OPD allowed the current Application to proceed as a Major Modification rather than require application for a new Planned Development (PD). This Major Modification relies on a quirk in the Memphis Zoning Ordinance that permits every PD passed since 1955 to exist in perpetuity unless the City Council specifically attaches a termination date to its approval.
4. The Office of Comprehensive Planning (OCP) has clearly erred in finding this project is consistent with Memphis 3.0. OCP’s false assumptions include:
a. A three story, 30,000+ square foot office building is considered “house scale.”
b. A commercial office building constructed on property zoned exclusively for single family residences since its annexation in 1969 will provide a “buffer” between the neighborhood and existing office buildings fronting Lynnfield Rd. north of Quince Rd.
c. Balmoral Shopping Center, a struggling Anchor in Memphis 3.0 designated as “Sustain” in the Degree of Change provisions, will not be adversely affected by a sizeable commercial office building a half mile away down Quince Rd.
d. Paving 4+ acres of ground at the highest point in the Ridgeway Sensitive Basin study area will not exacerbate flood problems in the neighborhood.
5. There is insufficient demand for 30,000 feet of additional office space in the vicinity. The 600,000 plus square feet of commercial office space within a mile of the proposed project had a pre-COVID-19 vacancy rate of 32%. Demand for office space post-COVID-19 is expected to decrease as companies shift from office-based to work-from-home staffing models. A depressed commercial office space market will further hurt the neighborhood, property values, and City tax revenues.
We respectfully request that the Council honor our appeal and REJECT this Major Modification. We further request that the Council specifically find this Project in its entirety NOT CONSISTENT with Memphis 3.0 in order to give proper guidance to the Office of Comprehensive Planning about interpretation of the Memphis 3.0 Plan.
Updates
July 20, 2020
The city council members are keeping quiet for now so we must make our opposition impossible to ignore. Call your representative today and tell them you oppose the office building project on Lynnfield Road. Post this link on your neighborhood Facebook page to ensure everyone knows what is at stake.
July 20, 2020
The neighbors are waking up and the momentum is building faster than we expected. Call your city council representative today and tell them clearly that our neighborhood needs to come first.
Reached 100 supporters
July 20, 2020
87 Comments
There is plenty of vacant office space basically across the street from this proposed building. People are working from home more and occupancy rate at nearby buildings is under 50%. Our neighborhood neither wants this or needs it.
This is a residential area and to prevent heavy traffic through the neighborhood, crime and a reduction in property value the building must not exceed two stories. Each building on the corners of Quince and Lynnfield are one story. This new building should be capatible to all others.
I own and rent the house on the SE corner across the street from this lot. The income from this house is a part of my retirement income. I feel with the decrease in my home value, my rental income also will decrease as will my income to live on.
I am against having large office building at the intersection of Quince and Lynnfield on the southwest side. It’s a quiet neighborhood with lots of children and we don’t need extra traffic or noise from dumpsters, etc. We like the tree barrier there.
We asked the commission to turn down the auto dealerships at Ridgeway and 385, but they were allowed to build businesses there. Now we're asking the city council not to build an office building on Lynnfield. Please let this business find another location rather than this tree lined entrance to the Balmoral neighborhood.
Please do not approve this three story commercial property to be built in Balmoral! Our beautiful and quiet neighborhood will be inundated with more vehicles, cutting through to and from Hwy 385, avoiding the Quince/Ridgeway intersection.
Council members, please consider the longstanding vacancies of office space 1 block north of this proposed development as an indication that this new development is not needed.
There are too many empty office spaces in this area. No need to build new ones! There is an empty lot where Kroger used to be right down the road!! Use that!!
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There is plenty of vacant office space basically across the street from this proposed building. People are working from home more and occupancy rate at nearby buildings is under 50%. Our neighborhood neither wants this or needs it.