Housing & Land Use
Balance homes and businesses, encourage community character, and explore more attainable starter-home ownership.
I want a balanced mix of homes and businesses in Firestone, including businesses with greater employee density to support more local jobs, stronger town revenue, and more customers for other local businesses. Residential developments and commercial buildings should contribute character through architectural variety, distinctive neighborhood design, landscaping, and inviting public spaces.
Development should largely follow demand. I see a need for lower-priced starter homes that give young people a realistic opportunity to buy in Firestone. Townhomes offer a better option than relying on further reductions in lot sizes, which are already frequently small. Their location should remain flexible rather than requiring proximity to businesses in a way that could undermine affordability. The best practical approach to making ownership more attainable remains a question I am working through.
Questions I’m Working Through
- What practical steps, if any, can Firestone take to make starter-home ownership more attainable while preserving quality, community character, and fiscal responsibility?
- How should Firestone seek and evaluate businesses with greater employee density to determine their likely contribution to local jobs, town revenue, and spending at other local businesses?
More detail
Evaluate the full cost of ownership
Making starter-home ownership more attainable requires looking beyond the purchase price. Financing, taxes, insurance, utilities, maintenance, and HOA or district charges all affect what a household can afford. I want practical options evaluated against the total cost to the buyer and whether they provide a realistic ownership opportunity while preserving quality and fiscal responsibility.
Explore starter homes with flexible locations
Townhomes deserve consideration as a way to provide lower-priced ownership opportunities without relying on further reductions in already-small lot sizes. Their location should remain flexible, with access, infrastructure, neighborhood fit, and affordability evaluated together. I would examine the effects of land, construction, infrastructure, fees, and approval processes before selecting a practical approach.
Build character into everyday places
Architectural variety, distinctive neighborhood design, landscaping, and inviting public spaces should contribute to how residents experience Firestone. Building scale, transitions between uses, streets, paths, parking, and connections to useful destinations also matter. New development should learn from places residents value and fit thoughtfully with its surroundings, including Historic Firestone.
Consider the opportunity cost of land decisions
Commercial and employment sites can provide long-term value through jobs, town revenue, and customers for nearby businesses. Before converting a strategic site to another use, I want the opportunity being given up understood alongside current demand and development feasibility. Businesses with greater employee density should receive increased consideration within that broader evaluation of community value.
Connect approvals to capacity and delivery
Housing and commercial development should be evaluated with the water, roads, drainage, public safety, parks, utilities, and other services needed to support them. Required improvements, responsibilities, and delivery timing should remain traceable through buildout. Decisions should explain how a proposal fits the town’s plans, why any changes are justified, and whether promised improvements and community benefits are delivered.