Plan for downtown Geneva apartment project nixed
A controversial plan to build a five-story, 202-apartment building on the edge of downtown Geneva died Thursday night.
A lawyer for Marquette Cos. withdrew the plan in the middle of a plan commission meeting, after the commission refused to add the site to the list of places in the downtown where mixed-use developments are allowed. It also refused to recommend several other changes to zoning laws that developers wanted for the project.
The withdrawal stunned members of the audience, most of whom opposed the Seventh and State project. They had been prepared to continue their fight before the city council, which could have approved the project even if the plan commission didn't recommend it.
And after the meeting, some were still collecting signatures on protest petitions to be presented to the council, as murmurs of "this is not over" and "the mayor wants this" were heard.
"We're not saying 'no' to more density there," resident Brannon Anderson said. But the proposal - which also included a 337-space parking garage, and a 5,900-square-foot store building - did not fit the character of Geneva, she said.
It would have been taller than most other buildings in town. Residents had also criticized the number of housing units, the architecture, the feasibility of the market for higher-end apartments and the building materials to be used.
"We've waited this long. Why do we have to throw ourselves at the feet of the first developer?" Anderson said.
The land where the former Cetron electronics factory stood was part of the plan. The building stood vacant for almost 30 years, until Marquette razed it last year.
The proposal also included land that held two houses, an office building and a parcel owned by the adjacent Burgess-Norton factory.
If Marquette or anybody else wants to propose a new plan, it would have to go through the permit process again, including plan commission hearings if any changes to zoning or the Downtown/Station Area Master Plan are needed.
The plan commission refused to recommend adding the land to the list of sites in the downtown where mixed-use developments, such as buildings that combine housing and stores, are allowed.
The Seventh and State proposal called for having stores on the first floor of the apartment building. The parcels will retain their zoning for industry, business and houses.
"Unfortunately, the plan we got is not the plan we could accept for this site," Commission chairman Dave Rogers said.