The purpose of this petition is to allow the neighbors of the Friends of Monroe Community Association (FMCA- Burton, Power, Riverview, Narcissus, Oak, Palm, W. 1st) to be represented at the October 25th Sanford City planning and development meeting at 7:00 pm. The signatures on this petition represent those neighbors who could not be present at the meeting due to family or work obligations who still wish to be heard regarding development surrounding this community and its streets specifically the development at 2485 W. Seminole BLVD. (Item 7E). These neighbors respectfully request not only the city of Sanford but also Seminole County to utilize smart and accountable development planning and not continue to increase storm drainage through our community (by raising elevation on new construction) without providing necessary improvements:

Flooding:
Smart and accountable development includes looking at the complete picture of an area, not just the site of development itself- continuing to elevate land surrounding our community will flood most of the 97 houses that are directly impacted by these ongoing developments. The intersections of the L-S and Sanford drainage canals through our neighborhood, the lack of typical rainfall for the last 3 years, and elevation of ALL the land surrounding our streets will cause detrimental flooding with the first decent hurricane that comes through. We are interested in protecting our properties and improving the storm drainage throughout our streets to ensure that doesn't happen.

Street and land drainage:
Seminole County and the City of Sanford are not replacing existing and already inadequate storm drainage in this community yet adding multiple complexes with elevations greater than the surrounding houses- this is a causing our yards to be flooded from April through December (rainy season) and will bring this water through our doorsteps with the first good hurricane that hits.

Road Safety for motorists and pedestrians:
As you are well aware the addition of developments north and south of the Riverview ave corridor increase the cut through traffic exponentially. Without making provisions for crosswalks, sidewalks, school zone markings or widening the road, the city of Sanford and Seminole county has effectively turned our quiet hometown neighborhood into a dangerously busy thoroughfare. We are passionately rallying to make our streets safe again and part of that is lobbying for speed humps, sidewalks, and signage.

Access to Sunrail- The proximity of our community to the Sunrail station on SR 46 is indeed a convenience, it would be a great benefit to all county and city citizens to be able to commute to work and recreation. The problem of access, however, is a pressing issue. Currently the only ways to get to the station are crossing the Sydney O. Chase overpass on SR 46 (which is extremely dangerous with cars passing at 55+ MPH) and through the access restricted Riverview Townhomes.

Waterfront development plan- Adding housing communities along the beautiful waterfront and riverwalk without giving thought to the overall plan of the city waterfront development plan to attract business and commerce to the downtown is wrong and evidence of a complete disregard of the future path of our city. Please consider utilizing this limited space to preserve wildlife (black bears, bald eagles, panther, tortoises, etc.), green and wetlands, and create parks and commerce that would attract local and tourist activity to the downtown hub.