The Seward City Council tabled a requested rezone in order to gather more information on the matter.
On Nov. 20, the council heard a request to rezone an area west of Cottonwood and Redwood roads from industrial-1, limited industrial, to residential-3, mixed density.
This area is located on the south end of town, west of Progressive Road.
Building/Zoning and Code Enforcement Director Ed Gonzalez said in the city’s current comprehensive plan, it has no planned use for the area.
However, the city is working to update its comprehensive plan and while that updated plan hasn’t been approved, it currently sees the area as a space that is needed to accommodate growth.
Gonzalez said the planning commission recommended approval of the rezone by a 6-2 vote.
Thomas Kayton, the applicant for the rezone, said he believes the R3 zoning suits the neighborhood on Cottonwood and Redwood roads.
Kayton said he plans to purchase the land if it is rezoned to subdivide it. Then he will sell it to a developer, who will replat the land and develop lots.
He said the developer’s plans are to build a mix of single-family homes and town homes.
Kayton said the developer will likely seek tax credits from the Nebraska Investment Finance Authority to fund the construction of the town homes. This will allow the developer to rent the residences at a subsidized rate.
Tom Matzke, who owns a storage facility in the area, said he was concerned the low-income homes the developer plans to build may devalue the homes that currently exist in the area.
Matzke said the nearby neighborhood is close-knit and the people there look out for each other. He asked Kayton to change the zoning from R3 to residential-2 to ensure no apartments can be built near the neighborhood.
Apartments can be built in R3 zoning with a permit.
Vicki Luebbe, who lives on Redwood Road, said the people who live in that area do so because they like living in a small neighborhood.
She also said she and her neighbors get along and can talk to each other if they have problems. She said she would also prefer R2 zoning.
“Yes, we want resident(ial), but we want an R2, not an R3 because we don’t want the low-income housing. We don’t want apartment buildings. We just want single-family homes,” Luebbe said.
Tom Thalls, who lives on Redwood Road, also spoke against the rezone.
“We’re selfish on this one, too,” he said, referencing a previous issue that was discussed at the Nov. 20 meeting to grant a special use permit for a recreational vehicle storage facility near the neighborhood.
Read more about the RV storage facility issue HERE.
Thalls said he does not think R3 zoning is compatible. He was also concerned that those who live in low-income housing won’t be there long and won’t take care of the homes.
“I think we do need those types of places around town, but I don’t think this neighborhood is the place to put that,” Thalls said.
Gonzalez said the city already has NIFA homes and he has received no property maintenance complaints on them.
Thall said well-kept businesses would be more positive for the neighborhood than low-income housing.
Councilmember Sid Kamprath said the council needed more discussion on what the city wants to do in that area in the future before making a decision on the rezone.
City Administrator Greg Butcher said the area is identified as residential and mixed residential in the comprehensive plan the city is working on. He said that mixed residential is to create transition zoning between the current neighborhood and industrial land.
“It doesn’t make sense to have residential next to industrial,” Butcher said. “We always want to transitionally zone away from it.”
The board voted to table the agenda item so the administration can gather information, including ensuring the rezone would be correct by the city’s ordinances.
Mayor Josh Eickmeier said if the administration finds information it feels the planning commission should have had, it will bring that information to the commission first.
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