Per the request of the developer, a proposed rezoning for the 56th Street and Wilson Avenue area has been taken off the Wyoming City Council’s agenda for the upcoming Monday night meeting.
The Granger Group had been seeking a rezoning of an an additional 98 acres to a development on Wilson Avenue and 56th Street. The additional acreage would have been combined with an approved 2001 current planned unit development (PUD) for that area bringing the PUD to a total of 211.2 acres.
Granger spokesperson David Jackiewicz, with First & Main Corporate, confirmed last week that Granger was requesting the city council postpone the hearing on the rezoning so as “to allow the Planning Commission to review an updated PUD plan we recently submitted…” Jackiewicz confirmed that on Oct. 19, Granger Group did submit an amendment to its original 2001 PUD that would include a mix of condominiums, townhouses, and single family homes.
Granger started the rezoning process in August. In that proposal of the 211.2 acres, there would have been zero office space but about 3.57 acres of retail space and 686 total housing units. Those units would be 316 single family lots and 370 apartments with no multi-family housing. The Planning Commission had recommended denial of the rezoning request to the Wyoming City Council, which has the final decision on rezoning.
The rezoning request had meet with much opposition from residents currently living in and around the development. At a Sept. 5 City Council meeting, at the Granger Group’s request, the council decided to delay a decision until its Nov. 6 meeting. Company officials stated at the meeting that it was their desire to work through the issues and come up with a plan that would have a mutually satisfying conclusion.
Some of the concerns expressed by residents were:
- decrease value to existing homes
- density too high in one spot
- increase traffic along 56th Street
- violation of current property owners’ rights
- developer does not need to max out the density on the PUD
- residents should have input on changes
- growth assumptions of 1 percent are too low
- putting a strain on local police and fire services
- there already are lots of other options for luxury apartments
- other developments such as The Haven have not open and the full impact of those on school and community resources remain an unknown
“It [was] higher right now with M-6, I get that,” said Wyoming resident Jason Gillette, who was discussing the traffic on 56th Street. “Even without that, it is very high traffic in the area. In the evening, I’ll be coming and have to wait 20 minutes…depending on what time you come through.”
Gordon VanMeulen, who is with the Wyoming Citizens for Planned Progress, said everyone understands that there will be development in the area, but it needs to be sensible and balance.
“The 2020 Land Use Plan and Wilson Corridor Report recommended multi-family housing on the northland as a buffer to the RiverTown Crossing and single family homes on the southend,” VanMeulen said. He stated his group is not in favor of the rezoning because of current issues with the Granger Group’s Rivertown Valley, density and number of multi-family units and the failure to follow the 2020 Land Use Plan and the Wilson Corridor Report.
In a staff report presented to city officials, staff said that the proposed rezoning does comply with the 2020 Land Use Plan falling under the 4 units per acre overall density. The proposal called for 3.66 units per acre.
“When you buy some property next to some vacant land you should really understand can and might be done there,” said 3rd Ward Council Member Robert Postema at the Sept. 5 City Council meeting. “And when we have a PUD in place that is exactly what has been done. Those homeowners have a right to expect what was going to be built behind them. It was all planned out in the PUD. The exact nature of the building may not have been built as it was but the idea that they would have some condominiums behind them, some open space, and then apartments way up by Wilson that was pretty well established.”
