Residents Object to Plans for Apartment Complex Near Subdivision

About 20 Waukee residents have signed a petition opposing a rezoning request that would allow an apartment complex to be built near their homes in the area of Alice’s Road and South Middle School.

The rezoning was approved by the Waukee City Council at Monday's meeting, but must be approved in two more meetings before it takes affect.

Council members voted unanimously to approve the first reading of the zoning change for Westown Meadows Plat 2, the Des Moines Register reports.

The next council meeting is April 1 and the opposing homeowners told Waukee Patch they will also attend that meeting to voice their concerns.

Several people who live near the proposed apartment site spoke to the council during Monday's meeting, saying the plan would reduce the amount of park land in the area. “It doesn’t seem to fit in with the neighborhood scheme,” Nick Larson said in the Register story.

In an email to Waukee Patch, resident Eric Krieger said the new rezoning will allow a 12-unit apartment complex very close to single-family homes with no transition.

Krieger said the rezoning would change a "large portion of the land near our homes from A-1 to R-3, which is agricultural to rental multi-family. The original Alice’s Road Master Plan had that area designated as R-1 or R2, which are single-family lots."

If the project is approved, the area could see hundreds of apartment units constructed, development services director Brad Deets told the Register.

Krieger said the Grant Park residents' concerns about the rezoning are:

1. Depreciation of our homes due to living right next to an apartment complex
2. Pride of ownership in the community
3. Safety of our children with the increased traffic
4. Reduced amount of park land from the Alice’s Road Master Plan
5. No transition from single family to higher density apartments such as town duplexes, townhomes, or rowhomes.
6. We are a very new development with houses ranging from $200-$300k and if this information was available when we all purchased or built, none of us would have chosen this location.
7. Concerned about the quality of the apartments and the quality of renters