Residents urge commission to delay height changes amid petition opposing 50‑story towers

Several Harbour Island residents rose in the open forum to urge commissioners to delay consideration of code amendments they say will enable very tall towers on East Drive.

Victoria Bates, who identified her Harbor Island address, summarized a widely circulated petition and said she fears tall towers would create safety and maintenance problems. Bates told the commission, “When you have a 50 story building that's not occupied, it's gonna fall on my house. Like, it's just not safe. … That monstrosity is just a catastrophe waiting to happen, in my opinion.”

Other residents corroborated concerns about traffic, noise, the island's man‑made fill and whether existing infrastructure could support significantly taller development. Abraha Tadesse noted roughly 471 signatures on a petition opposing the current approach and urged the commission to postpone first reading until the new year so more residents could review the proposal and participate. Commissioners responded that the item under consideration was a code text amendment — not project approval — and offered options for additional outreach, including a town hall and staff meetings with the developer.

What it means: The public comment established strong neighborhood opposition and prompted at least one commissioner to ask for more time to let the community weigh in, even as the commission voted to proceed with first reading on the amended text.