Cedar Rapids Planning Commission reverses support on Blairs Ferry apartment complex

CEDAR RAPIDS - Neighbors say they are 'surprised and disappointed” after helping convince the Cedar Rapids Planning Commission to vote down an unwanted apartment complex only to see it reintroduced a few weeks later with minor changes and this time get approved.

At issue is rezoning farmland anticipated for a future church instead for a proposed 50-unit complex of rentable town house-style row houses.

The City Planning Commission on Aug. 25 voted 6-1 against Genesis Equities' The Commons on Blairsferry at 4480 Blairs Ferry Road NE, which includes eight three-story apartment buildings and three separate single family homes. Commission members said it was out of context with the upscale homes in the surrounding neighborhoods.

'We were surprised and disappointed that the motion to rezone passed,” neighbor Jon Fortune told The Gazette, adding the proposed buildings are 'significantly out of scale with surrounding neighborhoods” and out of place without sidewalks, public transportation or retail.

Added neighbor Tony Cerretti: 'We feel the changes submitted by Genesis were not material and did not address our concerns, namely traffic congestion and property values,”

In an unusually short turnaround, city staff brought the rezoning request - which is needed to build - back to the table last week.

The new plan includes a few alterations. An out lot under consideration for future development has been added to provide two acres of green space and add total land to decrease the project density from 10.24 units per acre to 7.46.

Also, a buffer has been added between the apartments and neighborhoods to increase separation and diffuse glare of headlights.

'We have tried to incorporate solutions to the concerns of neighboring property owners where we can, while still honoring the intent of providing for a mix of use in an area that has a wide range of single family residential uses but lacks the multifamily housing aspect,” said Hannah Kustes, with the development team.

After approval from the commission, the $9 million project needs final OK from the City Council in the coming weeks. A date for the issue to come before the City Council has not yet been set. Kustes said the neighborhood petition has triggered a super majority requirement in which seven of nine council members must sign off, rather than a simple majority.

'We know it is a little bit of an uphill battle with that,” Kustes said.

Jim Halverson, chairman of the planning commission, was on the affirmative side of the 4-3 vote last Thursday.

'The applicant did a number of things to make this more palatable to the public and meet financial expectations of dealing with challenging lots,” Halverson said. 'Taking the out lot out was pretty meaningful because it takes a point of uncertainty out of the equation. They've gone to some pretty substantial lengths to make this work.”

Commission member Lisa Peloquin, who spoke against the plans the first time around, renewed her concerns about context and traffic. She liked the developer's Boyson Commons town house project off Boyson Road NE, but while the concepts are very similar she didn't see it as a fit off Blairs Ferry, she said, explaining her ‘no' vote.

'It didn't seem much had changed,” she said. 'I was hoping they could spread out the units and minimize heights. They really will be very prominent.”