The advice presented prior to this post is very good, however, I'm curious about the surrounding neighborhoods. For instance: are most of the dwellings single family or apartment compexes? Look around you, if you find that there is a preponderance of aparment buildings in your area, then this would indicate high density zoning. The issue is one of inundation that requires adequate traffic flow, emergency services, etc. and there are standards that must be upheld. This could be a factor in you and your neighbors favor. This happened to me a couple of years ago when a developer decided to build a dozen two story duplexes three doors down from my nice dead end street. In this case, it required a new street to be constructed and this turned out to be the Achilles heel. He needed a variance because the setback was not enough. After we neighbors protested, the variance was denied and as a result, there was about an 18 month delay in construction. When he finally did begin construction, he was only allowed to build six one story duplexes. The number was pared down because of traffic requirements. He was forced to build a more narrow thoroughfare which was designated as a "lane". Since a "lane" allows for less traffic than a "street", then fewer buildings could be constructed.
Also, after having been notified by mail of the rezoning request, I was able to obtain a set of the proposed plans at city hall. Definitely get a set if you are able.
Good luck.
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"The gift of liberty is like that of a horse, handsome, strong, and high-spirited. In some it arouses a wish to ride; in many others, on the contrary, it increases the desire to walk."
-- Massimo d'Azeglio
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