By NICK BUDD
Hays Post

At Thursday’s Hays City Commission work session, several residents brought up concerns about a rezoning proposal that would bring as many as 14 duplexes to an empty plot of land located between 33rd and 35th streets near Elm Street.

ZMM Development bought the land from Hays USD 489 last year and has applied to have the interior area rezoned from R-1 to R-3. A street would also be placed through the middle of the plot.

An R-3 zoned plot allows for multi-family and single family dwellings, whereas an R-1 area only allows for single-family homes. The planning commission held a public hearing and voted 7-1 to recommend the area be rezoned. At the hearing, several residents of the area brought up concerns regarding increased traffic and decreased property values. Some continued to stress their concerns to commissioners at Thursday night’s work session.

“That’s awfully close to Hall Street and, in the morning when I’m trying to go to work, I have to be careful because cars come by around the corner very fast,” said Connie Leikam, a resident who lives near the plot. “If there are 14 new duplexes … you’re going to have as many as 28 vehicles trying to get out of that one block.”

Leikam also mentioned concerns about the planning commission’s decision, noting that members “already had their minds made up,” despite the concerns.

Jennifer Whitman, another resident who lives near the area, also expressed concerns about the value of the land on the outside of the plot.

“Zoning the inside as an R-3 will lure us into basically giving up the outside,” Whitman said. “I can’t see anyone in their right mind thinking of that area very attractive to build a house. You’ve got a busy street in front of your house and duplexes behind.

“Eventually, the lots might not get sold and then we’ll be back here trying to zone the outside as R-3, and then you put up duplexes that are going to increase the traffic even more,” she added.

Whitman also expressed concerns about the decreased property values, noting the planning commission noted property values could actually increase.

“When we asked them about what this would do to our property values, they said ‘We don’t know,’ so I don’t understand how this statement (about increased values) could be in the minutes,” she said.

Commissioners will continue discussion on the topic at next week’s regular meeting.