In July of 2000, John Fowler asked us to help him buy the 70 acres to prevent its purchase by "a bad developer from Anchorage." After Fowler promised that his development would preserve the habitat and open space, we and Ms. Von Ziegesar each lent him $30,000 to help him purchase the property. Unfortunately, the "bad developer from Anchorage" seems to be John Fowler himself. As he and his partner Kenton Bloom developed their plans, in 2001 we became very concerned about their methods and withdrew our participation by having Fowler repay our $30,000 loan. We then offered to contribute the $30,000 to KHLT if they would take over our unsuccessful efforts to raise the reasonable price of $160,000 that Fowler said he would accept for the 70 acres. Unfortunately, KHLT passed up the opportunity to preserve this critical wildlife habitat and open space. Fowler then purchased the Herndon property to the west of the 70 acres and had an intermediary purchase the 10-acre property adjoining the 70 acres to the east, thereby consolidating and expanding his holdings.

In 2003, our Birchside Acres neighborhood was shocked to learn by a mailing from the borough that Fowler and Bloom had submitted plans to develop a dense 56-lot subdivision on his 70 acres and Lester's 54 acres. They planned many 1-acre lots and a steep, winding road that would be unsafe for cars, pedestrians and children, and too hazardous for emergency vehicles and school buses. Fowler and Bloom planned to access their subdivision from the privately-maintained, public right-of-way on the Stellar's Jay and Golden Plover roads in our subdivision. They refused to seriously consider the alternative access from Bear Creek Drive, which would eliminate the severe impacts on our neighborhood and our privately-maintained road. They also declined to contribute to the already high annual costs that we and our neighbors must pay to maintain the road. Furthermore, Fowler and Bloom refused to participate in paving or upgrading our gravel road to raise it to the standard needed to support their huge number of heavy construction vehicles and the more than tripling of daily road traffic. At subsequent subdivision hearings by the cities of Kachemak and Homer, Fowler and Bloom presented a plat that failed to satisfy a multitude of road and safety standards, as well as many other important requirements. These numerous deficiencies, coupled with their refusal to cooperate with Birchside Acres to address the problems they would create for our road and our neighborhood, ultimately caused the Kenai Peninsula Borough to reject their proposed plat. In their letters, Fowler and Von Ziegesar blamed KHLT for problems that were created by Fowler and his associates. For six years, we have witnessed a variety of unacceptable behaviors by Fowler and his associates that are consistent with the difficulties KHLT and the Baycrest neighborhood have experienced. If Fowler and his associates are unable to keep their promises and act in a responsible and beneficial manner, they should terminate their development activites in the Homer community.

David and Marga Raskin