City hears details on new apartment plans

PLAYGROUND ISSUES

I’ve dealt with countless sleepless nights. It’s unreal. At one point we didn’t go a single day in two weeks without being woken up after 11 p.m. with kids screaming, playing music...”

Holly St. Clair, development neighbor

FORT MADISON – Fort Madison residents aired some concerns Tuesday night about the former Lincoln Elementary School playground.
A resident who lives on the block said she has encountered heavy criminal activity and some frank conversations with adults and kids alike at the playground.
The conversation was part of a Fort Madison Planning and Zoning Commission at City Hall. The panel held a public hearing on the James Block Apartments, which is a repurposing of the former elementary along with new construction along Avenue F between 13^th and 14^th Streets.
Wes Holtkamp, spoke on behalf of Barker Financial who took over ownership of the building last year. Barker was also interested in the James Block building downtown and was hoping to package the two investments together for additional incentives, however they backed out of the James Block building, but kept the elementary.
The proposed housing project would include 33 senior apartments. Applicants will meet income guidelines and must be at least 55 years old. New townhouses will be constructed along the north side of Avenue F. Residents will park in a parking lot that will be constructed between the former elementary and the new construction. There will also be 12 spots on Avenue F. Apartments will also be built inside the current structure.
“Zoningwise it meets most of the parameters we would be concerned about,” said Building Director Doug Krogmeier.
“Even the size of lot per unit, the ground is so big, there is more than enough ground for the units. They are leaving the playground, they are leaving the basketball court and they will be leaving some green space for other activities.”
Krogmeier said city staff thinks it’s a good fit for that neighborhood. He said traffic should be far less than what the school produced.
Holtkamp said all the school house units will be single bedroom and the new townhouse construction will be two bedrooms.
Each unit will have laundry and storage. There will also be extra storage in the center area of the school. All tenants will have background checks. Income guidelines would be set at 60% of median income for the city. He said that amounts to about $36,000 to qualify.
The grants that the project will apply for have the age and income guidelines. The restrictions are 30-year restrictions.
Barkers are asking the city for Tax Increment Financing for the project which it will require it to be in an urban renewal plan. The city has yet to decide if they will create a new designation or combine the project into another renewal area.
Resident Holly St. Clair, who lives east of the property, expressed concern about the playground and the impact it’s having on her property, including vandalism and criminal activity.
“I have a lot of concerns, but more importantly, have a lot of questions,” she said. “I’m obviously a little upset about the situation.”
She said things started with a few kids staying up late in the park and playing loud music, but things progressively have gotten worse.
“I did call the city quite a few times to explore options about a privacy fence. Everyone is busy, but out of the multiple calls I made, I received one back. When I go to call back, I get the voicemail and I just gave up. I was very disappointed with that,” she said.
She said she can’t build a privacy fence that butts up against another fence. There is a chain link fence on the border of the property. She also reached out to school officials which ultimately resulted in no results.
“I’ve dealt with countless sleepless nights. It’s unreal. At one point we didn’t go a single day in two weeks without being woken up after 11 p.m. with kids screaming, playing music, or they like to hurl their bodies into the fence and launch themselves into the swing,” she said.
She said when she heard of the plans to keep the playground and the basketball park she couldn’t stop crying.
Holtkamp said he would take the concerns back to the Barker group. He said the plans to keep the playground, and the courts were for the community.
“They way I see it is, it's more for the community vs keeping it for our tenants. Just that location in town needs a playground, otherwise we're walking another five or six blocks. I get it, it’s not that far,” Holtkamp said.
“That’s not to say if I take this back to Barkers, they won’t say let’s take it out. I don’t know, that’s not my decision.”
Krogmeier said the playground would also benefit grandchildren of the tenants since they are an older population.
The panel chairwoman, Barb Asay, said she lives about a block away from the playground and can attest to the issues surrounding the park. She said the concerns aren’t falling on deaf ears.
Holtkamp said Barkers could set regulations for the playground since they own it and they could increase fencing but would increase camera and security coverage for the property.
He also said the problems seem to have gotten worse since the school was vacated.
The panel also approved a recommendation to the Fort Madison City Council to rezone from R5 two-family dwellings to R6 multiple-family dwellings to allow for the development in the neighborhood. The recommendation would still need council approval.