The only mistake that it seems Mike and Linh Bauer have made is to push the square footage of their home to a level that required them to go through a special planning hearing process ("Commission asks couple on Glenn Ave. to work with neighbors," Dec. 14). They passed that and now certain neighbors are raising objections.

As a neighbor also, I know that the Bauers openly solicited their adjacent neighbor's input on the detailed model of their home earlier this year and specifically invited input. The objecting neighbors chose not to show up or object directly, as reasonable people might. Now they are making a case of this, and the Bauers are being asked to "make peace with their neighbors."

How can anyone expect this to be resolved "peacefully" neighbor-to-neighbor?

I am very concerned if Commissioners Jay James and Bob Levy are quoted accurately and in context. The story suggests that these men have imposed highly subjective standards of what constitutes a "good neighbor," inferring that this burden falls exclusively on the Bauers.

Sadly for the objectors, none of their concerns have merit on a stand-alone basis. The Bauers could choose to plant privacy trees on their side of the fence any time they wish. They could choose to have a 500-square-foot terrace so much closer to the neighbors that privacy would truly be compromised.

Stop and think about what has been stated. Who would host 50 people on a deck that gives each person essentially a 3-foot by 3-foot space to maneuver? But what does that even matter? If the Bauers want to build a raised deck that encompasses most of their back yard and comes very close to the property line, this would be their right.

We feel blessed to live in a house with quiet, delightful neighbors who have not yet added a second story. But if either chose to add a second story and make other legal improvements, we feel it would be our burden to either accept it as urban dwellers, and renew our need to be reasonable, adaptable neighbors in the truest sense. Or we could politely leave and allow another family to better accept the new reality.

Can't we all just do our best to accept that change is ever present and we need to just get along with each other?

Tom Stroebel

Glenn Avenue