City looks at townhouses for workforce housing
Sometimes plans have to change.
In this case, the plans for a proposed 40-unit incomequalifi ed apartment complex on Progressive Ave. is being changed to meet new state requirements before the application deadline.
Earlier this year, the city contracted with Commonwealth Development Corp. to develop a city-owned parcel north of the Northcentral Technical College campus to help alleviate workforce housing shortages in the area. The goal is to take advantage of a competitive tax credit program through Wisconsin Housing & Economic Development Administration (WHEDA).
At Monday’s city council committee of the whole meeting, mayor Mike Wellner said availability of housing is a pressing concern to area businesses and industry as they try to attract more workers here.
The plan originally proposed by Commonwealth was to develop the lot with long buildings on the north and south edges with garages in the center. A community room building would be on the eastern edge of the property. The plan had been for the units to be a combination of upper and lower apartments with four units sharing an entryway. This plan had narrowly beat out an alternate proposal which had called for 40 cottage-style single floor apartments with attached garages. The major difference between the two plans was the amount of green space remaining outside the footprint of the buildings, with the city ultimately favoring additional green space.
However, in preparing the WHEDA application Tyler Sheeran of Commonwealth explained that there had been a change in the rules requiring all the buildings to be outward facing with their own entrances. As a result he said they had to revise the plan to be a townhouse style where each unit will include an upper and lower floor.
According to Sheeran, they are still able to keep the same basic footprint with this design with 20 of the units being two bedroom and the remaining 20 being 3 bedroom. He said two of the units would be built to be accessible with lower counters and first-floor bedrooms. Sheeran explained that this design would result in larger apartments with all of them over 1,000 square feet.
“It is more of a homestyle feel,” he said.
Alderman Laura Holmes expressed concern over the lack of first-floor bedrooms saying this is a problem especially for older renters who may not want to climb stairs.
Alderman Greg Knight noted the intent of the property is to be workforce housing for the nearby factories. Mayor Wellner agreed saying that there are other income-qualified properties in the city geared toward seniors and those with disabilities.
Sheeran said that where they have built these in other communities, they have not had any issues even with seniors renting them. “The stairs truly aren’t an issue,” he said.
Alderman Christine Weix said that while she preferred the townhouse style she said the city was prioritizing green space over prioritizing first-floor living.
Wellner replied that green space is important especially with the families with younger children who are expected to live there. “I don’t see our older people living there. It will be younger people with kids, the green space will be important for them,” Wellner said.
Alderman Mike Bub reminded the mayor that the vote of the council was split 4-4 on which plan to use and that for many of the council members the one floor design was important.
“These are being put up for our work force. . . . People aren’t saying we need more housing for elderly or handicapped,” Wellner said, noting that with the city looking at this project and others, there are private developers coming forward with their own projects around the city. Wellner also cautioned that as income-eligible apartments, retirees may exceed the income limits depending on their assets.
“We have to match things up, this is a match for what our workforce people need,” he said.
In other business, aldermen:
_ Approved a change to the 2022-2029 capital project schedule to move the Perkins St. reconstruction to take place in summer 2022. In March the city had approved moving Perkins St. back a year so that construction would not take place the same time the county was working on CTH O. However, the county highway department informed the city that because of the time needed to get approval of a new railroad crossing on CTH O, that project is being delayed to a future date. Work will go from the Perkins St. bridge east to Fourth St.
_ Recommended approval of the joint ownership and service agreement for the Medford Area Fire Department. The agreement includes updates to the listing of equipment in the department but is otherwise unchanged from prior years.
