• Town Council votes 5- 3 to approve Aura. 
  • May 26 and June 16th public hearings.
  • Estes Neighbors  sought clarity on DOT’s position here. Memorandum.Edwards.JUNE6
  • At the May 26th public hearing the DOT said that it was unlikely that Estes Drive would see any traffic solution such as a traffic light or round about any time soon.
  • On May 3rd, the Town hosted a viewing of how the Town wide traffic model would predict future traffic on Estes Drive if Aura were approved.
  • On April 2oth, the Planning Commission met to review the Aura proposal.  After much debate, the Commission delayed their recommendation until May 4th when they would have more information about future traffic conditions. See quick report here.
  • April 14th, Mayor Hemminger announced that the 4/21 Council public hearing would be delayed until May 12th.
  • April 5th Transportation and Connectivity Advisory Board met and voted down unanimously the AURA proposal 5 – 0 and gave these reasons for the denial:

    • The development does not reflect the goals of the Central West Small Area Plan•
    • The development does not meet the transit priority goals of the Town due to the number of parking spaces and the increase in single occupancy vehicle trips
    • The project will exacerbate existing pedestrian and bicycle safety issues due to the increase in traffic on Estes Drive and Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., and thus is not in line with the Road to Zero pedestrian safety goals of the Town.
    • The traffic impact analysis and the Town-wide traffic model do not reflect the current reality and lived experience of drivers on Estes Drive, nor do they take a holistic view of traffic on Estes Drive, including the future development of other surrounding parcels.
    • The traffic model needs to be validated.
    • The Estes Drive site access is a major safety hazard and should be right-in-right-out.
    • See the video of the 3 hour meeting here.
  • The Planning Commission meets April 20th.  Boards make recommendations to the Town Council about whether or not to approve Aura. Register at the links to these pages in order to attend these virtual meetings and have your say.
  • March 31st, 2021  An Estes Neighbors supporter raisesd a concern about a Town Board member advocating for a development proposal. Read correspondence here.
  • March 30th, the town’s consultant  rolled out its traffic wide model which will be used to  predict future traffic impacts, including Aura.
  • March 29th, the Town’s consultant explained the purpose of the town wide model and its capabilities.
  • March 8th  Estes Neighbors wrote a letter to Manager Jones signed by many neighbors requesting a delay in Advisory Board review. The Manager responded by moving the Transportation Advisory Committee’s review to April 5th.
  • February 10th, 2021.  The Town held a forum on the revised Traffic Impact Anaysis (TIA) for the Aura application.  Over 80 people joined the call to hear the consultant hired by the Town present the TIA results. The presentation produced more questions about incomplete data but there was no time for questions. The Town did finally reply with the answers to these questions.
  • November 16th, 2020, the Town sponsored an information session.  The developer made a presentation and the public asked many questions. The planning staff promised to return with answers. Edited questions are here. No answers have been received of March 14, 2021.
  • December 22, 2020, Trinsic submits Aura, the third application for a rezoning.

What is Estes Neighbors doing to get organized?

  • Join our group info@estesneighbors.org; sign the petition and join the Facebook group at estesneighbors.com. Contact info@estesneighbors.org if you want to help. We hold regular zoom meetings.
  • The Town Council will vote the rezoning up or down. Council members will respond to public concerns.  Write them with your concerns. The public hearing is April 21 and we want everyone with a concern  to voice it by attending that meeting.
  • Advisory Board meetings are an opportunity for citizens to learn, ask questions, and speak out about their concerns. The Housing, Environmental Stewardship, and the Community Design Commission have already met.
  • Here are the important meeting coming up.  Showing up makes a difference.
  • Planning Commission 4-20-2021 Virtual Meeting 7:00PM
    Council Public Hearing TBA Virtual Meeting 7:00PM
    Council Business Meeting TBA Virtual Meeting 7:00PM

In early March, Trinsic placed this leasing sign for the apartments they plan to build at the intersection of Estes Drive and MLK Jr. Blvd.  No permit has been received but the developer seems quite confident.