The Bellevue Planning Commission is reviewing a package of code amendments involving megahome construction in existing neighborhoods.

As I read the plan changes, all I can ask is who came up with these roof heights, how many stories are you going to allow and how many property values are you going to allow to be devalued?

Thirty- and thirty-five-foot roofs can cover near three stories above grade. Do we need Alpine homes (4’ in 12’ grade roofs) in Bellevue? I don’t know what neighborhood the Planning Commission lives in, but there are none that I know of that currently have buildings this tall unless we’re talking Downtown or perhaps Bridal Trails.

Homes, remodels/re-builds/rejuvenations should fit the makeup of their existing neighborhoods and properties sizes as well as reflect a coherent style. What the commission is considering amounts to constructing a glass building in the middle of a small Western Frontier town.

I write this in hopes of drawing the commission’s attention to a situation that has taken place on the very street that our family has owned property and lived on for well over 20 years now, that being the 200 block of 153rd Place Southeast and I invite them and anyone else for that matter, to come take a look at what they’re proposing and get a real-life feel for what they are about to do. We can supply real world examples of how bad it is.

Within three houses, up and down my street, there have been built three of these very homes, all of which appear to be in the 7,000-square-foot range. The typical size of homes in our Lake Hills neighborhood prior to this invasion was in the 1,700 to 2,800-square-foot range.

It may be too late for our neighborhood but the commission can save others and I plead with them to do so now. Reduce the height limit.

Boyd E. Collins Jr., Bellevue