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The MHDC application requires letters of endorsement from the state representative and state senator from the district where a project is proposed and the mayor.
Mayor Dick Stratman and state Sen. John Griesheimer have written unqualified letters of endorsement, however Rep. Scott Dieckhaus has made a "qualified" endorsement indicating that he supports it if three-fourths of the council indicate they are behind it.
Stratman said Monday night that doesn't appear likely and he expects the council to oppose the project.
"It's become a political football," Stratman said during Monday night's planning and zoning commission meeting.
A vote is expected at the Nov. 16 meeting for the council to file a formal objection with the MHDC.
The mayor said that he spoke with Mark Gardner of Gardner Development, who indicated if there is not support from the community "he doesn't want to be here."
Stratman said Gardner has "impeccable credentials" in building and managing such "upscale" apartment complexes, and would be tied to the project for 15 years.
The city council approved rezoning the property from single-family residential to R-4, planned residential, and later approved the development plan which calls for 48 residential apartment units a swimming pool, playground area, on-site management office and recreation room.
"I don't want to hear council people saying they were hoodwinked. There was no bait and switch. It all started here. Everything was done aboveboard," the mayor told board members.
Plan board members reviewed and discussed the development plan for two hours before recommending approval. The council approved the plan without discussion, Stratman said.
Stratman noted that the planning commission initially voted to approve R-3, multifamily zoning, but the council failed to pass that by one vote and instead called for the owner, Kurt Unnerstall of Clover Valley Properties LLC, to seek the R-4 zoning, which he did.
"Now, Kurt has found a developer who has agreed to build the plan as presented to the council," Stratman told plan board members.
Stratman said if the property had been zoned R-3 as recommended, the developer would have had to come back to the city for approval of individual plats. But under R-4, he just has to follow the development plan.
Ward 2 Councilman John Rhodes met Saturday with property owners in nearby Stone Crest Subdivision, adjacent to the site, and urged them to attend the Nov. 16 meeting.
One person at the meeting estimated about 20 people attended.
"People in Stone Crest are not happy about it," Stratman remarked.
"We have no control over subsidized housing," said Kevin Cundiff, board member.
"So much of subsidized housing gets a bad rap because of the management," said Samantha Cerutti Wacker, board member.
"That's the key," said Stratman who indicated that Gardner has experience and would have a management office on-site. "I like the idea of having a development managed by one firm."
Stratman said there is a lot of subsidized housing in the city where people receive vouchers to help them pay rent. "People have to live somewhere," he commented.
Councilman Tim Overschmidt, a plan board member, said he objects to the idea of government assistance to developers which he said gives an unfair advantage to particular developers.
"We have to accept the reality that it (housing assistance for low income people) exists," Wacker noted. Any landlord can rent to those people and accept vouchers. "My point is that they often are not properly managed. HUD housing exists. Can we manage it better?"
