Why "hypothetical" matters

Becoming a parent, your world changes from “when or if…” to “what if…” in a blink of an eye.  Before having kids, you could idealize what your world would become when or if something happens.  As soon as you lay your eyes on your child, that “when” becomes “what if” in an instant. 

Don’t believe me?  Our whole lives as parents we protect that “what if”. 

“What if my child falls off a bike and hurts their head?”  We buy helmets and enforce their use.

“What if there is a fire at my house?”  We make sure smoke detectors are checked and batteries are installed properly routinely. 

“What if we were in a car accident?”  We make sure to buy the best car seats and have them installed properly.

“What if” rules our world.  Worst case scenarios keep us up at night.  It’s part of being a parent. 

Over the past few months, the parents at The Goddard School are questioning “what if” a lot about the proposed development next door to the building at 6050 Telegraph Road.  It’s not because we are bad people, it’s not because we hate senior citizens or low income individuals, it’s because our job as parents is to ask ourselves “what if.” 

We can talk all day about the lack of notification that the Oakville area received about the development, or the lack of responsibility that National Church Residences has shown to the community after opinions were expressed at several town hall meetings.  We can talk about the disappointment our school feels towards the slanted and biased coverage in the media regarding this topic.  But, right now, our main concern has to be the questions that have arisen in our minds based on the facts of the building, and the facts about National Church Residence.

The building will sit just 21 feet from the school fence.  There will be no more than 3 feet between the fences, barely enough to push a lawn mower through. 

·         What if there is a fire on the north side of the development?  No fire truck will be able to position itself properly so that the fire cannot spread to the school.

A patio, that will be used for smoking since the residence is a non-smoking building, will be just five feet from the school fence.

·         What if someone throws a cigarette over the fence?

·         What if children are walking to the playground and are exposed to second hand smoke?

The development will house a minimum of 45 residents, with occupancy of up to 90 people.  Only one person must be over 62 years of age.

·          What if a family member decides to stay a few nights, or just a few weeks?  Will the head of household report them to the manager as a resident, or will they just be a guest?  Will they have to have background screenings?

The development will offer just 35 parking spots for the up to 90 residents. 

·          What if more than 35 residents have cars?  Will they be turned away?  Is that discrimination?

·         What if residents have visitors?  Will they try to use the school parking lot, or will they try to park on Telegraph Road?

The development is located in an area that has no sidewalks, is over a mile to the nearest grocery store, has no crosswalk at the Erb and Telegraph intersection, and has no public transportation available for at least a mile.

·         What if the residents try to cross 5 lanes of traffic in order to go to Walgreens?

The building will offer very little green space or room for the residents to garden, walk around, or enjoy the outdoors.

·          What if they want to take a walk?  It has been established that there are no sidewalks, so they will be infringing on the Poor Clare Monastery property or the school property.

National Church Residences suggest that there is very little crime or reason for concern in their buildings.  Research and information from a Sunshine Law request has found that the St. Louis locations alone, there have been 1700 police calls to the property that NCR has owned the longest in St. Louis, including calls for peace disturbance, larceny, assault, auto theft, fighting, burglary, and prowler attempted entry.

·          What if that happens next door?  What if their property management is questionable?

A senior- living apartment community in Atlanta, Georgia operated by National Church Residences recently had one resident attack, stab, and murder another resident in June 2013.  The victim’s family has stated that NCR have been negligent in their background screenings, and have poorly managed the property.

·          What if that happens here?

What if parents in a few years are driving past the school and choose to not even tour the building because it is sitting in the shadow of a much larger, obtrusive building?  What happens to our school?  What happens to the teachers that are employed at the school, or the Owner of the school who has put her heart and soul into the preschool and the Oakville Community?

We cannot be vilified for having concerns related to this project because we ask the question “what if”.  It is not only unfair to us, but it is unfair to our children to blindly accept this project as it is, and not voice our concerns.  It is our responsibility and our due diligence to ask the question “what if”, and we are not alone in the Oakville community.  If we were over-exaggerating the facts of the case, hundreds of people would not have given up 4 different nights to oppose this project.  If it wasn’t for our “what ifs”, we would be faced with “you should have…”