City Committee Approves More Senior Housing For West Side

Editor's note: This story contains additional comments from residents and expanded details about the west-side housing discussion that took place on Tues., March 29 at the Community Development Committee meeting. The updates are below in bold.

Another senior housing project moved closer to final approval on Tuesday after a city committee meeting.

The Community Development Committee voted 5-0 in favor of amending the city’s comprehensive plan and rezoning of Deerpath Road and Main Street. This is where real estate group DKI Inc. plans to build a senior housing complex. 

Now the DKI plan will move forward to the Batavia City Council at its next meeting in April. The Committee also voted 4-1 to repeal the conditional use for Planned Development at Deerpath and Main for Batavia Enterprises, the property's owner. This would allow for multiple-family residential medium densities at the site instead of use for offices.

The zoning line would also be adjusted to meet the new lot dimensions for commercial use.

This is the second such plan for senior housing that will soon advance to the full council. The other is a development from Equity Growth Group that would be built west of the and south of South Drive.

More Senior Housing, More Complaints

Residents have criticized both senior housing projects, citing concerns about lighting, foot traffic, decreased property values and more.

Resident Tim Mahan could not understand why the didn’t weigh heavily enough for the Community Development Committee to also turn down the plan. For the full story on what happened that night, click .

The Plan Commission had listened to the concerns of residents and voted 6-2 against zoning amendments for DKI. But the project was also supposed to have a Community Development Committee vote, and the Committee voted differently from the Plan Commission.

Another resident, Scott Vance, said the $20 million senior housing project will eat up the city's money with the high cost of ambulance and fire truck visits that the senior housing complex will need. 

Vance is also not confident that the complex will provide housing for seniors who actually live in Batavia. He said the complex will serve residents from other cities who are already on public housing authority waiting lists.

"You’re going to bring people in there that are given exemptions, not paying towards school and not paying full market value," Resident Burt Krieter said. “We’re going to finance that, effectively."

DKI Responds to Concerns

DKI claims that about 80 percent of the seniors will come within a 5-to-10 mile radius of Batavia city limits. DKI officials on Tuesday presented the latest model of their senior housing complex, which they said would be strictly two stories tall with 80 total apartment units.

DKI will only be required to have 10 percent of the people on the Illinois Housing Department Authority waiting list housed in their senior complex. Also, 10 percent of the senior housing will be assessed at market value, Tim Hedges of DKI said. 

Hedges said the building plan provides a transition between commercial and residential areas. Hedges asserted the senior housing complex will bring less foot traffic than compared to an office or commercial use building.

Resident and realtor Diane Merrick saw more benefits than drawbacks in this senior housing plan.

“The idea of a planned retirement community here subsidized for the people of this area to have a place to go that will be beautiful, landscaped and done right is appropriate and desirable,” Merrick said. “It would be a comfort to a lot of us to know what is going to be there, and it is going to be something aligning with the current way and future of thinking for older people to have a place to go.”

Alderman Alan Wolff sees the benefit of changing the zoning and city comprehensive plan to fit DKI’s plan. The senior housing complex, a multi-family residence, must have more landscaping than an office building.

This landscaping will provide a buffer between single-family homes and the senior housing, Wolff said.

Based on staff recommendations DKI has also increased the distance between the single-family homes and the housing development, said Gerry Dempsey of Batavia Enterprises. 

Land's Future Not Certain

Resident Tim Mahan asked what would happen if they rezone the land for DKI 's project, only to have it rejected by the housing authority.

At this point the city doesn’t know what would happen to the property if DKI doesn't build the senior housing development, said Jerry Swanson, Director of Community Development. 

Peterson 'Shocked' At Selfish Comments From Citizens

Alderman Lisa Clark on Tuesday asked for the Plan Commission’s opinion regarding DKI’s plan. In response, Plan Commission Chair Sue Peterson read a memo she sent to her staff that included thoughts she couldn’t share back on March 9. That night Peterson left the chambers late and felt fatigued. This is what she had to say:

“I’m going to vote no, nothing stated from the public tonight in any way influenced my vote," Peterson said. "I was shocked by the blatant comments … I was saddened by the lack of considerations for the common good and the selfish comments that come from the mouths of my fellow citizens. Personally I think the proposal would have been an asset to the city and the conceptual plan is a good one. My enable will be based on the hurried time frame we had to work with. Changes to the zoning need more research and discussion without time pressure."