Apartments or Residential?: Showdown in Post-RIO Ludington

[XLFD]

Background

When the Rental Inspection Ordinance (RIO) was passed on October 26, 2015, the fact that Ludington had a shortage of rental properties was ceded by both sides.  Those against often explained why the RIO would only tremendously aggravate that deficit, those who were for the ordinance, had a regular opportunity to comment on that, but never did. 

Reportedly, many landlords have began the predicted sell off of rental properties, where many of those properties may be re-purposed into residential housing or condominiums.   With the loss of mostly lower-rent transient housing access within the city limits, the exodus of poor people out of the city has begun. 

But shortly after the RIO's passage, many residents of Ludington's ritzy Forest Hills district got a letter from City Hall telling them that a developer was looking to transform the property at 916 Washington Avenue sitting on 8.5 acres into an apartment complex with up to 80 units.  Currently the property is residential, having a stately house on the west side of the lengthy property and a mostly pine forest covering the eastern 80% of it.  The property is fairly defined by the red box below.

If you are familiar with the area, directly south of the property is Budde Reed's Ludington Beverage Co., and just south of that is Great Lakes Casting (The Foundry).  The property is bordered to the north by a thin sliver of commercial property, and then the Pineview Apartments (aka Evergreen Trails) which was purchased nearly two years ago by the person wanting to develop this parcel, Mitchell Bogner of Pineview LLC. 

The interesting border happens to be towards the east, where the property interfaces with Ludington's Forest Hill subdivision.  Many of these residential houses read that the Planning Commission would be considering the rezoning at their December 1 meeting, and that they would have the opportunity to offer their opinions.  Many did.

The Meeting

December 1, 2015 Ludington Planning Commission from Mason County District Library on Vimeo.

The meeting was well-attended and had no less than fifteen people come up during the public hearing on this zoning change proposal.  Eight people expressed dissatisfaction with it, two others were effectively noncommittal, and five were advocating for it. 

At 3:00 minutes in Mr. Bogner got up and explained his position.  He said his apartments next door were 100% full and is usually contacted by 50 prospective renters each month.  With permission, he planned to start adding 24 units beginning next year close to Washignton, then work his way back over the next few years adding more units.  According to him, a recent house inspection showed the current house is not fit to live in.

Budde Reed was noncommittal, but wanted it on record that his company's trucks would be noisy at odd times during the day.

Renee Malburg was next and had the distinction of not only living on nearby Monona, but also of representing the trust in charge of the residential unit and a realtor for Greenridge.  She came out strongly for the development, mentioning her belief that such was the best use of the property, it fell within the city's master plan, and that the various economic development agencies were for it.

Becky Vaara brought up several reasons why it wasn't a good fit for the area, and how it would create several hazards and said it should remain residential.

Chris Bousson brought up points of nearly doubling the Forest Hills population density, and that the increased population may not be as selectively picked as Bogner's other property.

Spence Riggs, wore many hats representing himself, the Mason County Growth Alliance and the Chamber of Commerce.  He made the case that the city needed more rental units to attract and retain workforces and accommodate their diverse needs.  He related his own personal story about coming back to the area and having to move back in with his parents.

If you recall, this is the same Spence Riggs who was petitioning for a dog beach during the time when the RIO was being discussed, which as noted, has led to a mass migration out of Ludington of its affordable rental properties.  He was quiet for all his hats then.

Ken Badrak, wondered where the jobs and people would be coming from, and noted the difficulty already around the area due to traffic.

Former 12 year mayor John Henderson, a resident of Forest Hills, averred that he thinks the PC has a tough job and should do what's in the best interest of the city and its future; indirect approval. 

Jo Kalchick expressed her concerns about how the neighborhood's basic character would change and how they would lose some of the natural areas that many desired when they purchased property in the area.

Kaye Holman admirably admitted her position on the Ludington City Council, and formally said that the city needed more rental property and that there were plenty of homeless, things she remained mum on during the RIO discussions, when she voted against it.  She was highly supportive of the change, noted that traffic concerns could be dealt with.

Heidi Walden stressed that a decision on zoning would be a point of no return.  Her property would abut the area and she had concerns of safety, the population density increasing, and the loss of the forest. 

Diana Kovalchik, also of Greenridge Realty, spoke on behalf of the zoning change and that there would be a fifty foot buffer to the east of trees.

Frank Sagan was also noncommittal, but once again brought up the city's reluctance to enforce its own rules, in particular its disregard for putting in sidewalks on new constructions when the city says it must, and how he has lost contracts because of their reluctance.  Like the city council, the PC also ignored his criticism. 

Mark Kalchik stated he moved back into Ludington having grown up and endorsed the previous people who spoke out against it, and that the density will mess up the character of the area.

Rich Dalinger said he brought his property in Forest Hills with the idea that it would be unchanged, and was against it for most all of the other reasons mentioned.

Jeff Larson mentioned he had been there for twenty years and was worried about the influx of units that would be totally different from the residential units already there.

When the public hearing ended and the commissioners started discussing the issue, they quickly decided it needed to be further reviewed by a subcommittee to digest the input of the hearing, but they did quiz Mitchell Bogner a bit more on the project.  Among the things found out is that he is more than willing to compromise, and is transitioning his own business from land line phones to rental properties, since there seems to be more of a future in the latter.

My Two Cents

Because of the RIO, there are several people that will be permanently displaced out of the City of Ludington before any new multiple-unit facility will open.  City officials and Planners have shown that they actually want that result by their actions in advocating and passing the RIO.  Undoubtedly, they believe the type of people we will lose are expendable since they have shown absolutely no concern for that prospect. 

The people who are for the change are either affiliated with the real estate transaction (Bogner, Malberg, Kovalcik) or with the City/Chamber (Holman, Henderson, Riggs).  Nobody from the city came out overtly against it, even those living in Forest Hills (such as Shay, Winczewski, Henderson).  Those opposed all came from the Hills, with the exception of the Foundry representative. 

If Ludington is to ever regain those transient entities it is losing, they have to repeal the RIO or  create these multi-family dwellings, and there isn't a lot of available real estate for it.  The 8.5 acre residential property surrounded by commercial properties seems like a good candidate on first look to make into commercial property, and its close proximity to the owner' other rental holdings makes it seem like a good fit.  I could see its rezoning being beneficial to the community.  However...

I walked some of the property on Saturday and made a few observations.  First, the house doesn't look uninhabitable.  It's of sturdy World War II stock and looks maintained and good from the outside.  I walked through the Pineview Apartments to get to the forested areas in back, and walked some of them. 

The first thing I noticed was that there was a definite air quality problem this day, which I began noticing at Pineview's parking lots.  The wind was from the south and a slight downdraft made the foundry's smoke drift down and hit you fairly thick.  If you've ever played at the tennis courts or the soccer courts with the wind blowing from the north with a downdraft, you know that it's not a good time to play.  The noise from the factory was also fairly noticeable.  Once I went into the forest, the smoke and noise were fairly muffled and much less noticeable. 

I scared off a couple of deer in two different places, and noticed an often-used footpath going from the back of Pineview to Monona Street.  You can see the path to the north of the property in the map.  It terminates at a lift station on public property, so the users do not trespass along anybody's property.  This will undoubtedly be used as a footpath for many heading east in the new apartments, if built.  The city could effectively put in an access road there in the future, if they so desired. 

Many of the concerns of the Forest Hill folks are legitimate, but shouldn't prevent someone from building apartment houses there.  What should ultimately make this a poor place to put apartment buildings is that the loss of most of the forest will lead to a lot of poor air quality days in these apartments (and beyond) and an amazing amount of noise pollution from the foundry and the bottling company.  Let's not forget, our prevailing winds come from the southwest. 

This is not a desirable place to build rental units.  The health concerns are not only bad for them, but the deforestation of the area will make it worse for their neighbors, including all those living at Pineview and even those in Forest Hills.  People who do move there, will quickly move out, if they can afford to because of the nastiness of the neighboring environment.  Therefore, I would suggest a better place to put future multiunit dwellings in the City of Ludington, because this is not where a lot of people should be living, in my honest opinion.

The City of Ludington Daily News came out with an article on the meeting the next day, they noted that fifteen people spoke in total with the majority speaking against it, and promptly ignored more than half of those speakers while acknowledging all that spoke in favor of it.  Though they expressed no opinion, the coverage inadequately covered the opposition to this project tacitly endorsed by the city.

[Willy]

It would seem that the apartments are a good fit for that area. I don't understand how people can object to living near the new apartments when they have an industrial plant and warehouses as neighbors. If people want to live near that noise and pollution then that's their decision. I wouldn't but that's me. I'm sure the proposed units won't be cheap to rent so, given the location, the owner of the complex is going to be taking a risk hoping that enough people will be willing to live amongst the byproducts of commerce.

Where else can folks get the kind of information that X provides on this forum, certainly not in the add choked Ludington Daily News.  Good job.

[XLFD]

The residents of Forest Hills are a bit fearful of these apartments because a lot of tenants will eventually be closer to their backyards (at least for those living on Monona) and they greatly fear an access road or pedestrian traffic going through their neighborhood.  If the people from Pineview Apartments haven't been a problem for them, these new apartments won't present a problem. 

They also will not like losing the pine forests, but oddly none of them mentioned the environmental protection these trees offer, only the loss of a scenic woodland.  When at those apartments this last weekend, the smell from the stacks was oppressive when you could see the smokestack, but when you went closer and into the trees you didn't notice it.

Thanks for the compliment; other news sources may give you the story, but they typically avoid trying to let you see what actually happens at these meetings by providing you a video and doing extra research.