In a split vote, Marysville City Council voted to approve an apartment complex on the land behind Meijer.
In a 4-2 vote, council offered final approval for the rezoning of 18.76 acres behind Meijer on Coleman’s Crossing Boulevard. The property had been zoned Special District One but is now Planned Unit Development. The decision paves the way for the 264-unit Kenmore Place apartment complex.
The complex is planned to have 11, three story apartment buildings and a single story clubhouse. There would be only one entrance to the complex, a long driveway between Meijer and the Crazy Burrito Mexican restaurant. Emergency personnel would also be able to access the complex using an access road through the north side of the Meijer parking lot.
Council member Mark Reams, who voted with council member Henk Berbee in voting against the rezoning, has repeatedly questioned the city’s plan for multi-family development.
“We need to come to an answer,” Reams said. “It doesn’t have to be tonight, but it has to be soon. How much is enough?”
He said the city has about 2,100 multi-family units with about 2,000 more approved. He said the city has enough apartments for a city of 45,000 people adding that data shows the city has an appropriate mix of multi- and single-family housing. He said the city continues to approve multi-family housing but wondered, “where are the single family homes coming from?”
He said the city needs to “focus energy” on attracting single family homes.
Mayor J.R. Rausch said there are “some projects in the beginning stages” but said the city is running out of lots for single family homes.
He said he is “close” to thinking the city has enough apartments, but also that he recognizes that economic development is tied to housing.
“We want to protect that Marysville identity, but by the same token, if you want businesses to come here, you have to have a place for these employees to live,” Rausch said.
Council Member Alan Seymour said city officials are always thinking about “smart growth.” He said the city demographics say it is not time to stop building multi-family homes, “but we always have to be cognizant of that.”
Council member Debra Groat said developers will tell the city when it has reached a saturation point. She said they stand to lose more than the city if the apartments don’t sell. Groat said that when there are enough apartments to fill the need, developers will stop building them.
Reams agreed, but added, “there are other areas that make more sense.” He said that adding apartments on “a first-come-first served basis doesn’t make sense.”
Berbee asked County Economic Development Director Eric Phillips if he had any actual data that showed how many jobs the increased approved multi-family units had created.
Phillips explained that housing is similar to parks or other city amenities in that it takes a bit of time to see tangible results of investment.
“Sometimes you are going to take a loss to gain something bigger,” Phillips said.
He said that to be a great community, it needs to be prepared to meet the housing needs. Phillips said many manufacturing employees are getting older and preparing to retire.
“If we don’t have an influx of people to take those jobs, we are going to be hurting,” Phillips said.
Council member Scott Brock echoed those thoughts. He said millennials and empty nesters are competing for the same housing space, “and it’s not single family.”
City Manager Terry Emery said the need right now is for diversity.
“People today want more choice,” Emery said, noting the Kenmore project is different from many of the other approved apartment projects.
“Keep an open mind,” Emery urged. “I think we need choice. We have a work force need. I think it is going to be more so.”
He added, “I don’t want us to get stuck in something that we have always done,” Emery said.
Emery said the Kenmore project would be an investment of $23-$25 million. He said the homes would mean $2-$3 million in tap fees and about $200,000 in park fees. Finance Director Justin Nahvi said that in addition to the income tax of the residents, the project would generate about $644,000 in property tax, half of which would go directly to infrastructure improvements in the area and the rest would go to the school district.
“For my perspective, financially it makes sense,” Nahvi said of approving it.