Several Fargo residents in Timber Creek are upset with a proposed rezoning of their area. Many worry the changes will add parking and traffic, while decreasing the value of their homes. Some of them gathered at City Hall earlier Tuesday evening to express their general disapproval.

The developer, Dabbert Custom Homes proposed to rezone seven lots within the development into 14 lots—meaning there would ultimately sit twin homes instead of single-family homes.

"And it would give the developer the ability to build basically twice the number of residences that could be built under the current zoning," Donald Kress, who serves as planning coordinator for the City of Fargo, says.

Residents say that would break the covenant they signed when they moved into their homes.

Kress says the developer is following city ordinance, by proposing the change and discussing it in an open house—but many of the people say the developer didn’t do all its homework in going through the “painstaking process” of finding supporting evidence for the need for change. And they say the developer is breaking the covenant simply to make more money.

Meanwhile, Don Dabbert Jr., president of Dabbert Custom Homes, says it’s not just about making money: that buyers nationwide are trending toward smaller homes.

"The fact of the matter is not everyone wants an 80-foot or 100-foot or 75-foot, whatever the case may be, lot,” Dabbert says. “It's really kind of about also smart growth. We have an infrastructure here."

In the some-20 protest letters we found written to the city, some neighbors said they might not have moved into the neighborhood had they known there would be a change in the agreement. And the rezoning would: negatively affect property value, change the character of the neighborhood, increase traffic and decrease parking.

One person wrote, "We bought our lot 18 years ago. We built our home with the promise it would be single family housing and a school at the time. We have continually fought to keep Walmart out, massive apartment complexes and now too many twin homes. This is not something we will quit fighting."

We're told there could be a vote on the zone change at the next meeting, on October 1.