Gardner has dashed plans for a commercial project along 199th Street near Interstate 35.
On Monday night, the Gardner City Council narrowly denied rezoning a parcel of land just south of I-35 on 199th Street, preventing a proposed commerce center, which nearby residents opposed, from developing.
The city council voted 3-2 with one abstention to deny rezoning the 57 acres of land.
Mayor Todd Winters and Councilmember Mark Wiehn cast the two votes against denying the rezoning, though neither said outright whether they supported the project. Council President Mark Baldwin abstained from the vote.
“One of the concerns I have with the development is I don’t think 199th Street is ready for this kind of traffic,” said Councilmember Kacy Deaton, who voted to deny the rezoning. “Without the shoulders, we don’t have the ability to enforce it.”
Councilmember Wiehn wondered aloud what development could possibly go on the site, if the city denied this proposal.
“There is concern on my part that if this doesn’t go forward … I don’t know that there’s anything else that could go into that property,” Wiehn said. “I know there was discussion about — it was ag (agricultural) at one point in time. It’s never been good farmland. I don’t know that it’s good for residential property. I feel that’s going to bring more traffic to that area [that] you don’t want either.”
Proposed earlier this year, the development was twice voted down by the Gardner Planning Commission. However, stipulations had been proposed to help address concerns.
“For the record, I abstained because I don’t think we ever talked enough about the stipulations the planning commission and the staff put in,” Baldwin said.
Ten residents, including nearby property owners who live outside city limits, spoke against the proposal during Monday’s meeting. Another resident submitted a written comment in opposition of the project, which was read aloud. One of the project developers, Lynn Baker with L&J Development LLC, also spoke during public comment.
Residents shared concerns about truck traffic and safety, and also a desire to live far away from this kind of development.
What’s in the proposal
The development proposed rezoning 57 acres along 199th Street, southeast of I-35 and west of Waverly Road, from rural residential to heavy commercial.
It would’ve included:
- Three buildings ranging from 52,500 to 96,250 feet.
- Three outdoor sales and storage lots.
- Four billboard structures, with space for 16 vertically stacked sign faces, with a height maximum of 45 feet.
An additional 34 acres on the property would’ve remained rural, with possible plans for green space and a recreational trail.
“What we’re asking for is some regional commercial (development) that’ll benefit the area, benefit the city,” Baker, one of the developers, said during Monday’s meeting. “We’re not going to create a bunch of truck traffic. It’s not warehousing per se.”
Local developers — including Baker, Fred Wingert with Advantage Development and Wingert Billboards, and John and Theresa Voelk with F&M Properties, who previously owned CT Transportation Inc. — proposed the project earlier this year to the planning commission.
To address concerns, developers, city staff and the planning commission proposed a few changes, including:
- Limiting building height.
- Limiting truck delivery and shipping times to 6 a.m. through 10 p.m.
- Limiting the number of dock doors and commercial garage doors.
- Providing directional signage for truck traffic, directing them west when they exit the property.
- Limiting usage of the property to meet requirements of the city’s light manufacturing code — an industrial use where little to no byproducts such as smoke, odor or noise are discernible from outside the building; limits light pollution; and deliveries occur through light to moderate commercial truck access.
More about residents’ concerns
The site sits on land annexed into Gardner last year, including nearby residential properties on 199th Street.
Many residents who live nearby said Monday night that they agreed to the annexation with the understanding that the city would protect their properties from unwanted truck traffic and the industrial development in Edgerton to the southwest.
A few residents called for de-annexation if the city council voted to approve the rezoning.
“Our annexations gave the city jurisdiction of 199th Street, and you were trusted to use this power to restrict truck traffic on our road,” said Gardner resident Jason Carman.
At the start of 2023, Gardner posted No Truck Traffic signs on 199th Street to prevent unwanted semi-truck traffic on the two-lane road.
While Frank Bannister, a nearby homeowner, said he’s sympathetic to the property owner and developers, the location isn’t right.
“I’m not against commercial development, but I think this is the wrong place,” Bannister said. “This is a residential area. There would be people that live right next to commercial development and look right across the street and see commercial operations. That is not the reason people live where we do, out in these residential areas.”
Keep reading: Denied before, commercial project off I-35 back before Gardner council. Homeowners nearby don’t like it.
