Bellevue residents showed up to a second council meeting in a row to express their thoughts about a proposed apartment development in the city.
Though the potential development did not appear on Wednesday’s meeting agenda, residents filled the council chambers to reiterate their concerns.
The development is proposed for the three-and-a-half acres behind the northwest intersection of Geiger and Berry avenues. Residents directly impacted by the apartments and others from around the city have been outspoken about the idea since it was first brought up at the June 14 council meeting.
At that meeting, the city council said they had not yet reviewed proposals regarding the development; however, the developer Matthew Olliges with Vision Realty Group met with the council in an executive session after the meeting, where according to Bellevue Mayor Charlie Cleves, he gave a presentation on the $20 million development.
Three residents that addressed the council at the June 14 meeting returned this month to speak.
Geiger resident Terri Williams said she believes the city needs better forms of outreach and more transparency.
“It seems that Bellevue has jumped on the bandwagon and is trying to develop multiple properties at an alarming rate,” Williams said. “And without nearly enough input from the community.”
Williams also said she believes the market is already saturated with luxury apartments and questioned if the trend was sustainable.
“Do we want to destroy our delicate hillsides and their ecosystems for transient, non-local apartment dwellers?” Williams said.
Another Geiger Avenue resident, Lori Heart, questioned the council on something she had asked at the last meeting: If the land is available for sale, how much is it?
“There’s an area of land that is part of my property that we’ve been maintaining for 50 years—our family,” Hart said. “Is that available for us to purchase so that this development doesn’t come up onto my yard?”
Hart told the council that she hoped, at some point, someone would give her an answer.
Berry Avenue resident Rob Schiller addressed the council regarding past comments about the development helping to bring more kids into Bellevue schools.
“I’ve heard one or two city members say it’s a good idea ‘quote-unquote’ to sell the property because it will add to the school population in Bellevue,” Schiller said. “Yet they show no empirical evidence, no proof, no analysis that proves their statement.”
At the June 14 meeting, City Administrator Frank Warnock spoke about the school system.
“One issue that I struggle with a lot is our school system, and we need new students,” Warnock said. “How do you get new students? You create new housing.”
Schiller said he found through his research that studies showed that the school population would hardly be noticed with the addition of apartments.
“The Princeton article goes on to say, ‘case studies and federal census data are consistent in most multifamily developments, whether condo or apartments—a majority of the residents do not have school-aged children,'” Schiller said.
He also encouraged the council to weigh the pros and cons of the development.
“Arguably, the largest issue surrounding the development of the three-and-a-half acres is the trees and vegetation,” Schiller said. “They create a buffer zone between the residential homes and the commercial zone behind the acreage, including the highway, the train tracks, and Bellevue’s industrial complex. The wooded buffer zone protects sensitive ecosystems, improves the overall appearance of the area, and increases property values.”
During the meeting, Bellevue’s Steve Guidugli was the only council member to state his stance on the proposed project.
“I want everybody out there in the audience to know, and everybody in the city of Bellevue, that I am against that development,” he said.
Bellevue City Council Member Sean Fischer did take to Facebook days before the July 12 meeting to share that he also did not favor the plans.
“On our June 14th council meeting, a potential development plan for city-owned land near the corner of Berry and Geiger was brought to city council’s attention,” Fischer said on Facebook. “After discussion with the potential developer, the city administration, and hearing resident feedback, I am not in favor of moving forward with this proposed plan.”
Warnock spoke at the meeting regarding the city’s comprehensive plan. He said some misinformation was getting passed around regarding how the city passed the plan.
“Zoning is complicated,” Warnock said. “You cannot just have an email or a blurb on a Facebook page. You have to kind of peel back the layers of the onion to understand the comprehensive plan.”
He said there were multiple open public meetings related to developing the plan. Warnock said the Kentucky League of Cities was contracted to help, Jim Dady and Cindy Minter were involved, and it was reviewed and approved by Bellevue Planning and Zoning and the council at public meetings.
“The area in question, Berry/Geiger, is zoned R-1-B,” he said. “This allows for single-family residential development. If multifamily development was to be entertained, there would have to be a zoning map amendment.”
