By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
A second version of a housing complex turned down a year ago amid opposition by Burmax Park residents cleared its first hurdle Monday night.
Eagle's Wood Apartments, which now incorporates senior citizen housing with multi-family units, was recommended by Dowagiac Planning Commission to City Council.
Public hearings on a lot split at the Commercial Center along M-51 South submitted by the City of Dowagiac so that the parcel can be sold to the developer, a rezoning change to property at the Commercial Center sought by developer Peter M. Jobson of Shaker Heights, Ohio, and a site plan review of a planned unit development (PUD) submitted by Jobson had initially been scheduled for planners' April 7 agenda.
Jobson, in arranging to purchase the property, wants it rezoned from A-residence/general business to a planned unit development, or PUD, to develop a 17-unit elderly residential facility along with four, two-story residential structures containing 32 apartments.
Jobson in April 2002 proposed Eagle's Wood as a $4 million residential development behind Pizza Hut, but encountered instant opposition before the Planning Commission from neighbors in Burmax Park.
Jobson reworked the proposal to include 17 units of senior citizen housing along with the family units.
If approved, the PUD would be constructed on the south side of Pokagon Street on an extension of Amerihost Drive.
City officials visited Van Buren County to see Jobson's larger development at Exit 20, Phoenix Road and I-196, in South Haven Township.
About a dozen citizens attended the public hearing.
Typical of the comments was Linda Keesler's question, "Why was this site chosen? There are other sites in town that this could be put at. Why out there? When you acquired that on your (P.A.) 425 agreement (with Pokagon Township) it was a commercial corridor. Now we're getting housing back there. What's going to happen in the next three to five years when we do actually have businesses that want to come to Dowagiac? Where are we going to put them? What about the traffic? Has anybody ever thought about it?
Another M-62 resident, Helen Leich added, "We already have an awful lot of traffic on the Pokagon extension."
Added the mayor, "If you look at the number of 4 1/2-acre sites available in the community, there are relatively few, three or four perhaps, that would make sense for this development. We have looked at all of those. We didn't just arbitrarily pick this as the first and only thing we looked at … and to suggest that we didn't wouldn't be correct. We felt in looking at the other sites and this piece of property, what we want to do for it and the impact it would have on the surrounding area, in fact this was the most logical site for this development within the community.
Forty-nine multi-family units -- 32 (12 three-bedrooms, 12 two-bedrooms and eight one-bedrooms) and 17 for senior citizens (10 two-bedroom units and seven one-bedroom units) -- are proposed for 4.63 acres across Pokagon Street from Amerihost Drive, which would be extended 540 feet.
As part of the "lineal development" with 91 parking spaces, there would be a series of eight one- and two-bedroom units, eight one- and two-bedroom units, eight two- and three-bedroom units and eight three-bedroom units in the four buildings.
Each unit has a patio or a balcony, central air conditioning and dish washers. Each unit has its own entry. There is no common hallway.
Planner Guy Piper voted against the project because he doesn't see it being a good fit with the Commercial Center.
Pokagon Township Treasurer Lynn Schantz reminded that the city mentioned building six to 10 homes "back in that area" on one-acre lots.
Dowagiac Area Federal Credit Union has also acquired property for future expansion.
A PUD gives "some control over the quality of the development that's done. PUD zoning is negotiated, a contractual arrangement between the developer and the city," Nelson explained.
Dowagiac's only other PUD is Villamere condominiums on Colby Street on the city's east side in Wayne Township.
The four non-senior buildings carry some income restrictions, but do not constitute subsidized housing.
Jobson said 24 units cost $600 per month -- "which we believe to be a relatively high number for the City of Dowagiac" -- however, "We think these units will be very successful because they are of a quality that doesn't presently exist in the market. There has been no new multi-family housing built here since 1978. These would be spacious units that include a washer and dryer -- 1,200 square feet for the three-bedrooms and 1,000 square feet for the two-bedrooms. It costs about $80,000 a unit to build one of these units. Senior units would be rented by persons over 55" at a cost of $500 to $520.
Besides the 24 $600 units, Jobson said Eagle's Wood would provide two units for $694, 10 units in the $500 to $520 range, eight units at $400 to $430 and five units would be discounted to $236.
Someone's income can increase 140 percent of where it was when they began residency before they must move.
Management of the property will be the responsibility of Keystone. "They're the third-party manager that manages our property in South Haven Township," Jobson said. "They have grown exponentially and currently manage 18,000 units across the state. Our philosophy is that the thing that really makes a property successful over the long term is to have a high-quality tenant base. Each resident is credit-checked. Their employment or income is verified through sending out letters to their supervisor or someone who can determine what their income is."
Screening applications carefully is important, he said. At South Haven Township, 158 applications yielded 28 renters. "At this point we're full and have got a waiting list."
The management company requires that monthly rental amounts be no greater than 37 percent of a resident's gross income.
Jobson said tenants are recertified annually, plus a manager and maintenance person are there 52 weeks a year for about 32 hours a week to answer calls.
Former Pokagon Township supervisor Barbara Cook questioned whether the city attempted to contact the Michigan Department of Transportation again to find out if traffic lights either on M-51 South or on M-62 West "might be justified."
Several audience members asked what happened to the city's recruitment of a movie theater.
Corak wants to see the development located north of town on M-51, beyond Burmax Park, where "there are no houses to speak of. They were going to put the high school out there. Is it because the developer doesn't want it out there or you don't?"
Nelson said, "The developer has to decide where it wants to be, number one. Number two, that's not in the city so we don't have control over that."
Jobson added, "Their criteria encompass a lot of different things. For example, proximity to retail services. That's one. Visibility is another. Accessibility is another. They have spent the time to come out to Dowagiac and this site was reviewed by senior MSHDA personnel, in fact, the executive director. It has gone through their committee and been approved. They looked at other portions of the city and look, in fact, most favorably upon this portion of the city because they believe it's the area where future growth is going to occur. It offers the most services to city residents."
Corak countered that the north side of town has Save-A-Lot, Goodwill, Pizza Hut and Tacho's Mexican restaurant, "and more stores would go in if you had an apartment complex."