By Kylie Balk Yaatenen - Oct 21 2024
JANESVILLE
The Janesville Plan Commission on Monday night gave the green light to the development of a new subdivision with 38 single-family homes and 10 duplexes off U.S. Highway 14 on the city’s west side.
The 23.7-acre parcel along Crystal Springs Road is part of the Pine Ridge Estates neighborhood developed by Next Generation Homes of Beloit. The first phase of Pine Ridge Estates, along West Cedar Road, was developed in 2005 after the land was annexed from the town of Janesville in 2001.
The vote to allow the plans to move forward was unanimous.
Janesville City Planning Director Duane Cherek said the city, county and southern Wisconsin in general are critically in need of more housing and the city is looking for ways to move forward on that.
He said offering a variety of housing types and price points will bring young families into the area, to work locally and to enroll their children in local schools.
Cherek said the land to be developed has sat vacant for 20 years, and said its development is needed to help remedy a local housing shortage.
The site is near other existing low-density residential homes and bordered on the south, east, and north sides by ag land in the town of Janesville
On Monday night, some of those nearby neighbors expressed concerns about the plan to include multi-family housing, traffic and stormwater impacts.
Ken Bell, who lives in a nearby neighborhood, said he’s concerned the planned duplexes will negatively affect his property value. Bell also said he’s concerned about stormwater runoff, as water would run southward, toward existing homes.
A representative from Next Generation said the new subdivision’s stormwater plan would address that.
Neighbors also expressed concern the new subdivision’s proximity to U.S. Highway 14 and said more homes would further congest traffic there.
Plan commission member Doug Marklein said that he approved of the request as long as one of the duplexes is moved so as not to be on the property line of White Pine Drive.
Plan Commission and city council member Paul Williams said he voted in favor of the plan because Janesville needs more housing, but acknowledge that he has concerns about traffi
Plan Commission Chair Kathy Voskuil suggested that the city reach out to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation to discuss possible solutions to traffic congestion along this stretch of highway.
She urged the developer and the neighbors to have open communication and work together to make the area a great place to live.
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