Genevans continue to fight 5-story apartments
Shrinking the proposed five-story Seventh and State apartment development in downtown Geneva is not mollifying opponents of the plan.
More than 130 residents filled the auditorium at the public hearing for the proposal Thursday night. Almost all who spoke criticized the plan as being too big.
"I think people come to Geneva, to live and to visit, because we look and feel like a small town. This (the proposal) doesn't look or feel like a small town in any way, shape or form," said South Street resident Caroline Middleton.
Marquette Cos. wants approval to deviate from city rules governing the height of buildings and how much of a lot can be covered by a building. The company also wants to have the site added to a list of properties eligible for a mixture of residential, commercial and business uses. It needs changes to the city's comprehensive plan and to the Downtown/Station Area Master Plan.
Under the changes, parts of the building would still be five stories tall, but it would be 5 feet shorter, at 60 feet.
"I'm only 5 feet tall. That's only 5 feet," said resident Donna Schneider, standing on a chair, drawing laughter. "That's me!"
There would be 17 fewer apartments (202), and fewer of them would be on the fifth floor.
There would be 16 fewer spaces in the parking garage _ 337. And the amount of land the buildings would cover has been decreased.
"If you got rid of retail and brought it (the building height) down, would your investors approve?" Commissioner Cindy Leidig asked. Several others also asked that.
The economic part of a proposal, however, is not one of the 21 factors the plan commission and city council are supposed to consider when considering requests, according to the city's zoning law.
The commission is scheduled to vote on the plan April 14.
Prosapio said the changes were made in response to public comments. The hearing started in December and continued in January.
"Primarily, we focused on reduction," said Jeff Prosapio, Marquette's project development director.
The project involves 4.56 acres bounded by State, Richards and Peyton streets, and Seventh Street if it is extended north of State.
It calls for razing a vacant duplex, a vacant office building and a vacant commercial building.
The land is designated for business, industrial and office uses. The former Cetron electronics factory occupied about half of it. It closed almost 30 years ago, and was torn down last year.
Marquette has begun studies to see if the land contains hazardous materials, and suspects it will find evidence of solvents, degreasers and other chemicals Cetron used, Prosapio said.
The Downtown/Station Area Master Plan designates the block for public or semipublic use. That is because when the plan was written in 2012, the Geneva Public Library was buying the land, intending to build a new library on it.
The library canceled that plan. It instead has a contract to buy land on Sixth Street from Kane County.
Marquette originally proposed 237 apartments.