By NICK BUDD
Hays Post
Hays city commissioners unanimously approved rezoning a plot of land on 33rd from a single-family dwelling district to a multi-family dwelling zone at their Thursday night meeting.
The city was zoned for civic use because USD planned to use the land for another school, but the plot was sold to ZMM Management in 2014. Before Thursday’s meeting, commissioners were presented with a petition with 249 signatures of citizens close to the area who opposed the rezoning. ZMM Management plans to use the area to build duplexes.
The letter attached from Jennifer Wittman stated “There was tremendous concern expressed about property values, increased/reckless traffic, college kids moving into the duplexes, and the decline/mismanagement of the duplexes over time.”
Wittman also said she was concerned commissioners weren’t balancing the needs of the community while making the decision to rezone the area.
“This decision is not about the goodwill of the citizens and what we need,” Wittman said. “We’re the people that are going to remain here for a long period of time. You’re going to drive out the people who want to have the American dream of owning a home.”
Commissioners offered evidence against several of the claims. Commissioner Eber Phelps provided several examples of property values increasing despite the construction of similar developments nearby. According to Phelps, some properties close to 33rd Street increased by as much as 50 percent from 1998 to 2003.
“I think a lot of those old concerns this day and age with our housing demands in Hays actually play out. We’ve got duplexes placed all over town and none of the houses near those areas have depreciated over time,” Phelps said.
In regard to traffic concerns, City Manager Toby Dougherty said the city is always looking for problematic areas in the city.
“We look at accidents, traffic flow and things like that in almost every area. If something necessitates a change, we have no problem recommending it, Dougherty said.
Mayor Henry Schwaller also addressed one residents concern over the management of the property. Schwaller is the president of Schwaller & Associates, a property management company in Hays.
“The reason I presume they’ll be well built is because the owners will want to have families in there just like the other duplexes around town … because they get a good return on their investment. They’re expensive to build, but they have a lifelong return on investment,” he said.
Commissioner Ron Mellick believes people around the area are simply scared of the change that will come to the area if the duplexes are built.
“Turning this lot into a residential area will have less of an impact than its original use (as a school),” Mellick said. “Zoning 14 lots to (a multi-family area) is not the real issue here. The real issue here is change; changing an empty lot into something other than an empty lot.”
Commissioners also agreed that the duplexes will help out with the housing crunch in the city of Hays by providing families with more affordable places to live in.