Christmas Miracles

December 9, 2025

by Donna Hemann

Happy Holidays Neighbors! Here's hoping you're finding joy this season and enjoying good health; if not, and if any of us can help, please reach out. I promise one of us will show up and lighten your burden. The neighborhood that plays together and slays dragons together stays together, right?!

Our zoning issue stalled at a 3-3 Planning & Zoning vote recently. It will be voted on again to break the tie, absent another public hearing. Then it goes to City Council. There we need only 3 votes to win. We have one guaranteed 'no' to the re-zoning and at least three maybes as I see it. If we lose, we go to referendum. I am confident the public will back us with that, but there are no guarantees in life except the sunrise. The world seems so upside down, I'm beginning to doubt death and taxes.

I'm not holding on as tightly to the outcome of this long war as I used to. Disappointment, disillusionment and exhaustion will do that. And I've learned one of the most important lessons of life: People are more interested in getting what they want than just about anything else. I've known about this selfish gene scientific theory since young adulthood, but this zoning drama has moved the awareness from my head to my gut. By way of example, it seems to matter little what we say in testimony; the commissioners and councilpersons have their minds made up well in advance, largely related to their profession (e.g. are they a developer), personal alliances (who their friends are) and political and public policy beliefs (do they tend to be pro business or pro neighborhood). Once in a blue moon someone votes against their grain I suppose, or some strange circumstance makes them flip, but not typically. Despite these conditions, we continue to write letters and give speeches. We want to be on the right side of history, where we are remembered, to ourselves and to others, for having spoken up, fought a good fight and upheld our values.

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I would enjoy (in theory) a little restaurant at the infamous corner. I've fantasized about walking down to the end of my street and having a glass of wine with friends. I've envisioned summer nights listening to music there then walking the easy half block home. And if the restaurant was attached to a little market that served gluten free pastries and homemade coffees in the morning? All the more enticing. But then. But then I think of the people living right next door to it or across the street. I think of another developer tearing down the next batch of houses, because why not them too? I think of blocks of trees gone and replaced with parking lots. I think of the noise and the cars lining our interior streets and think no. Won't work. My little fantasy won't work out for people. It won't make people happy because I can't create it the way I would want it--tucked away and without risk of being the first domino that propels the rest. This corner (referring to the area of razed homes that is now gravel) is funky and the traffic is monstrous. It's the opposite of tucked away. It's a place you don't want droves of people if you can avoid it.

Ironically, when this site is discussed, it being on busy thoroughfares seems to invite the inverse of reason; at our last Planning and Zoning hearing a commissioner explained that she observed a person struggling to turn into the driveway of the house that is now the first house on the corner facing National and at that moment realized the corner must be zoned commercial. One car is too many so a hundred is better. Right. Got it.

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Last week a group of us from the neighborhood attended a tour of the Springfield Art Museum's renovations. It was exciting to see the modernization in progress. Doorways will be larger and ceilings higher to accommodate a more diverse art collection. The interior stage will not be there and instead a large gallery will be a meeting and educational space, creating the utmost intimacy with art. There will be walls of glass with views into classrooms, the natural creek and the outdoor stage. Rooms will flow into and around each other, meandering along polished concrete floors. These changes promise to heighten the value of living nearby in terms of cultural and aesthetic enrichment and even in terms of property values. "Art and culture add a unique character and soul to a neighborhood making it more attractive to potential buyers" writes Woo Kim in "The Impact of Art and Culture on Neighborhood Real Estate Values" (LynkMe, March 26, 2024). He goes on to say that "Neighborhoods infused with art and culture are the masterpieces that attract admirers from near and far. An area buzzing with artistic activity becomes the next hot spot, making properties within its vicinity more coveted and pricier!" Juxtapose the vision of the beautiful new museum and our enlivened neighborhood with incremental eradication of historic homes and streets turned into endless construction sites and parking lots. The latter sounds very sacrificial to me, with our neighbors and properties being the sacrifices. This zoning situation begs the question: Is the reality of people's experience (living in and around UH) completely divorced from the decisions of the myriad decision makers who are influencing the outcome?

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At the risk of sounding utopian, I advocate for public policies that mirror that part of the Hippocratic oath that says, "I will do no harm or injustice" (to those I serve). There is no one in the know---and I mean no one, who believes adding businesses to our neighborhood is not harmful. And quite frankly, destroying more homes to build less valuable housing structures also harms the people living here. Advocating for something does not mean you believe it's a good thing. The great tobacco company lawsuits revealing company officials knew their product was addictive and caused harm prove that. Sometimes, leaving good things as they are is wisdom. If only BK&M had considered the lives of the people living here first and foremost. That would have changed everything.

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At the end of the Museum tour our guide gave a brief lecture. He discussed how part of the Museum's plan is to add art pieces strategically throughout the adjoining neighborhoods. A couple of us enthusiastically said, "The corner of Sunshine and National!!" We realize it is now privately owned land but I believe there is still hope. City Councilman Brandon Jensen said he would advocate for part of the recent tax increase revenue going toward an improved turn lane at the corner. We should remind him, with emails and phone calls, to make good on that. And perhaps there is an arts benefactor out there who might make a deal with BK&M for a little part of their land and decide to partner with the Art Museum to create an art installation and sculptural gardens. And maybe BK&M could keep their standing residences in the rental market or sell them to people who would be proud to own a home in our beautiful neighborhood. Sure these are big dreams. But dreams worth dreaming always seem big at first, and then get whittled down through time and effort until they look just-right sized and doable. Tis the season for big dreams. And for miracles.

Blessings for a miraculous holiday season, Neighbor.
Donna Hemann

PS: As of today, there will be a City Council vote January 26, and oral arguments for the Deed Restriction Lawsuit January 27.