Planning commission set to discuss Mayfield project Planning commission set to discuss Mayfield project (November 12, 2004)

A key step in the controversial process to turn the former site of the Mayfield Mall into high-density housing is scheduled for Wednesday, when the environmental planning commission will determine the scope of an environmental impact report.

The planning commission will determine the various alternative projects to be studied for the site. Toll Brothers, a development company, wants to buy the 27-acre site from HP and build 600 to 800 homes on it. Other possibilities include lower-density housing and leaving the site as is.

But city staff is continuing to catch heat from a group of neighbors for its involvement in the process. Most recently, the residents requested the city release a report commissioned by Toll Brothers detailing the project's impact on property values.

Lynnie Melena, the project liaison at the city, declined, saying the report was incomplete. She later released it at the request of Mayor Matt Pear.

A city council vote on whether to rezone the site from commercial to residential is tentatively scheduled for January 2006, at the end of the environmental impact review process.

-- Jon Wiener

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