Pheasant Ridge Subdivision Residents Talk Back to City Council

Residents of West Des Moines Pheasant Ridge subdivsion have a beef with city officials, who they say have allowed developments that have changed the character of their neighborhood from residential to commercial, including a planned four-story apartment complex.

A dozen residents of subdivision protested before the West Des Moines City Council last week, citing privacy, security and the potential for diminishing property values, the Des Moines Register reported.

Among them was Lara Vandis, who said her property values “just tanked” as a result of the project.

“I shudder and I think to myself, ‘Wow, should I be putting the for-sale sign in my yard?’ “ she said.

Another resident, Raymond Hague, said that over the 25 years he has lived in Pheasant Ridge, the neighborhood has shifted from “the quiet of family to the flurry of commerce.”

Nearby developments include Wells Fargo & Co.’s sprawling West Des Moines campus, Jordan Creek Town Center and related commercial districts, and Glen Oaks Country Club.

However, a commenter on the Des Moines Register’s web site, which reported on the flap last week, said it’s the residents themselves who have changed the character of the development.

“What the residents haven’t considered,” Mark A. Peitzman commented, “is that the ‘rural feel’ of their neighborhood was lost when it quit being farmland and they arrived.”

The City Council approved the site plan for the new apartment building on a 3-1 vote, with Councilman Russ Trimble casting the lone dissenting vote. Councilman John Mickelson was absent.

City officials said developers and landowners have listened to residents’ concerns and included a berm that will buffer the subdivision from the new development.

“We planted significantly more trees than what the buffer requirement was,” said Gerry Neugent, president of Knapp Properties, which owns the land.

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