Two developers have cleared the first hurdle of rezoning property to make way for new housing subdivisions.
The Seymour Plan Commission recently passed Joe Hauersperger’s petition for property owners Kenneth and Linda Kendall on a 9-1 favorable recommendation. Don Bruce cast the lone dissenting vote. Angie Klakamp was absent.
That’s for property that fronts Quail Creek Drive and Sunset Lane south of Seymour that would go from R-1 (single-family residential), I-2 (heavy industrial) and Roadside Business to R-4 (multi-family residential) for the development of a manufactured home subdivision.
The commission also approved Jason Miller’s rezone of property in the 700 block of Marley Lane from R-S (single-family residential district) to R-1. That came on a 10-0 vote.
Both move on to the city council for a final vote at the June 28 meeting.
Most of the discussion during the plan commission meeting was in reference to Hauersperger’s proposal of a 64-lot subdivision on 15.18 acres.
If approved, the manufactured homes would be 1,200 square feet with three bedrooms and two bathrooms and cost around $125,000, which Hauersperger said would make more affordable housing available in Seymour.
“Home ownership is the driving force in this country,” he said. “The need for affordable housing, we’re seeing it all over the news all over the country. There just isn’t enough affordable housing.”
At that price point, he said there would be an $80,000-per-year property tax benefit. Plus, it would keep people in Seymour.
“Half of the new jobs in Jackson County go to out-of-county residents, so employees are coming in to Seymour,” Hauersperger said. “What the subdivisions do is keep the people here, pay the taxes here, spend the money here, which is all good for the community.”
Hauersperger said the homes would be similar to stick-built homes but are manufactured, meaning they are constructed in a factory and then brought to the lot and assembled.
That would be similar to homes in the Pebble Brooke subdivision to the north that was built from 1996 to 2002 and consists of 136 lots, while the Quail Creek subdivision to the east has 56 stick-built homes constructed between 2004 and 2008, he said.
“Manufactured housing has changed,” Hauersperger said. “Materials they use are better. The houses are built better than they were 15 to 20 years ago, but the stability of that neighborhood, you go in there now, those houses are selling for over $100,000 now, so I think you can see the benefits there. They are 20 to 25 years old, and they’ve lasted pretty well.”
The primary differences with these homes would be the roof pitch and crawl space.
Hauersperger also is proposing two stormwater detention ponds and a park, the latter including a soccer field, a basketball court, playground equipment, a bicycle trail and a shelter house.
“There’s nothing on the east side of Seymour for the parks,” he said. “Studies show that neighborhood parks like that would increase the value of the houses around there somewhere in the 8 to 12% range.”
Plan commission members Bret Cunningham and Dan Robison both said the park is a good idea, but Cunningham asked who would maintain it, and Robison said there needs to be a plan in place to maintain it.
Hauersperger said he may have to create a homeowners association and use money from fees to take care of the park.
“I just thought a park would be a good idea there with the number of children that are out there and the fact there’s nothing on that side of town, but I’m not married to the idea,” he said. “If we don’t put the park in, certainly lots are going to be a little bigger, and we can put lots where the park is.”
Danny Cornett, who lives on nearby Mockingbird Lane, also asked who would maintain the park.
“You put a park in a subdivision, it’s going to turn out bad,” he said. “They’ve tried it before — towns and stuff like that — and it doesn’t work.”
Cornett also asked Hauersperger who would check the detention ponds and expressed concerns with drainage problems and how close the homes would be to each other.
“Basically, all I’ve got to say is just because you can do something doesn’t mean you have to because one of these days, that’s going to become part of Seymour. Now do you want that?” Cornett said of the area that’s in the county now but falls in Seymour’s 2-mile fringe.
Nathan Frey, acting as the city engineer, said it would be a county subdivision unless the city works with Hauersperger to annex it before it’s subdivided. Then it would receive fire and police protection, trash pickup and snow removal.
He also said when a primary plat is submitted, there will need to be a meeting to discuss drainage and other concerns.
In introducing his proposal, Miller also said there’s a need in Seymour for affordable housing, in particular homes that younger families can afford.
His stick-built homes would be 1,200 to 1,500 square feet with a two-car attached garage and cost in the $180,000 range. There would be 52 lots on the nearly 15 acres.
“We don’t know if we’re looking at doing all brick, brick fronts, anything like that,” Miller said. “Just trying to keep them in a lower end because the other subdivisions going in right now are obviously $300,000 to $400,000.”
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What: Seymour City Council meeting
When: 7 p.m. June 28
Where: Training room upstairs at the Seymour Police Department, 205 N. Ewing St., Seymour
Who: Open to the public and press
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