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8.A. - Page 314 With this in mind, we were over-tl��moan to find 29 Fing�r Aven�e a.s a place to put down roots.Despite the state of our tumble-down cottage, we felt we'd landed in clover. Finger A�-enue has warmth and eclectie charm in abu�dance,with a sidewalk on both sides of the street where we can walk with our children ac�.d greet our neighbors. It's an uncommanly apen. friendly and supportive neighborhood. We celebra�e bi�rthdays and Oktober Fest together. And as ifthat weren't luck enough,it is- abo�•e all- � street whose homes are sheltered and made discreet by a generous and unusual ab�andance of#rees an,d vegetatian. It's an ideal spot to bring in new hames and new farnilies. Having said that, I trust that no one would believe in an nverarching need to degrade the neighborhood in the process. We specifically movad to Reciwood City trr avoid locatians on the Peninsula where homes,bui�t in wise p.�oportioz�tc3 t�eir Iots,were being razed and repZaced with goliaths,bardered by minimal strips of land which would never sce the sun. This process was t�rning neighbarhoods into parking lots. Tf you have ever beezt at a social event, and had twa or three people standing too clase to you far camfort, you'll understand perfectly t�e neighborhood eyuivalent: excessive mass and sca�e wedged on hummingbird-sizec�lots —like too many people in an elevatar. It means we a11 en�d�.p with camically ugly scenarios,and we�11 lose. It's the same as finagling a few of those big red hotels an Vermont Avenue--if you recall the modest blue Monopoly board property. 'I'�ze McGowazi nine-lot de�velc�pment is a particularly egregio�s e�cample. It's bearing dawn like a Mack truck on our neigl�borhood—a discre�t riparian baven. The project promises to cram ni.ne disproportionately huge homes with high roof lines on lots barely wide enough to accommodate them, buIge intrusively wher�ver it ne�ds inta th�cammunity's protected creek setback, and to convert land that shv�c�be a walking patla inta raadway marginally vsride enough for a fire truck to pass—as long as tl�e dev�laper and city ignore fire ccjdes that the rest af us have to abide by. Wrifing in layers of exemptians doesn't rnake it right or sane. MeGowan's vision is aJso about slapping a lacked and gated cornmunity within our close and friendly neighborhovd,where we ar�aecustomed to eye oantact and greeting each other. Flac�ng a locked and fenced community ian the rniddle af aur street reminds us of def�nsiv�gatsd compounc�s in ravxged places like Afghanistan. It's tantamount to saying"'4Ve are fearful af our safety here", Is this the message the city wishes to moclel?A gated community on Finger Avenue is a chilling cox�ment on where the city feels it has to ga. This is even worse than the sort of develo�ment our family escaped in 2009. Although it rnay be l�gal,i�it visio�ary`j Is it aesthetic or compatible with our neighborhood?We say it is not, In conclusion,the McGowan Nina Lo#Finger Aveaue develaprnent has no justification in its c�rr�nt foxm, and it is painfully evident that t�e developer has no intention of inediating with the community mast afFectecl by his intentians. Eight years of efFort ta arrive at some sort of mutually beneficial rnodifica�ion have been#o no avail. z