Council Members, Residents Disagree on Best Use for Williams Pointe Land

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A hotly debated rezoning request that would allow townhomes, rather than commercial construction along an area of Brick Road, was approved 3-2 Monday by the Waukee City Council.

Waukee residents last month debated whether allowing townhomes and duplexes instead of commercial businesses best serves the area. Some speakers said there is enough rental housing in that portion of town.

Monday's vote to rezone Williams Pointe Plat 13 was the second of three votes needed to make the change; the final vote will come at that Aug. 19 council meeting.

Council members Isaiah McGee, Casey Harvey and Mike Watts (who was not present, but voted over the phone) all voted to approve the zoning change, while  council members Shane Blanchard and Shelly Hughes voted against the rezoning.

“We really can’t take into account that it’s rental or owner occupied," Harvey said. "When you look at this area you have to take a look at the rezoning matter and it’s a townhome use here. I just don’t see any reason for me to legally deny it.”

Harvey said he spoke with real estate developers and they all thought this was the best use for the land.

“Traffic works out well in this area,” Harvey said. “I don’t get to pick who develops it, who gets to buy the property, I get to pick whether the use is right for the area.”

Resident Mark Malone asked council members to think about Waukee in the long term, in the next 50 years.

“Is it better for the city to rezone this now as residential property or is it better for the city, long term, to keep it commercial?” Malone said. “If we have to wait five years for legitimate commercial prospects to come in, isn’t that better for the city in the long run, then condemn it to a lower income property now?”

Council member Hughes said that after taking a look at the amount of multi-family housing already in the area, and the potential for growth with Hy-Vee grocery store opening nearby later this month, she thinks the area should stay marked for commercial use.

“There is a lot of residential development in the area, a lot of multi-family and I did observe a fair amount of traffic,” Hughes said. “The traffic study that was included in our packet was done in 2005, before everything exploded and I think with the construction beginning soon on the interchange and Hy-Vee is opening in less than a month, I think this area is just going to be much more congested than we would think. I would like to keep it zoned commercial.”

Hughes said she thinks the rezoning would affect increase traffic.

“I think rezoning it to residential would affect the traffic even more, especially since it’s less than a quarter mile from Hickman and Alice’s Road, which is such a large and busy intersection,” Hughes said. “So I do not support it.”

Gwen Clark, a former Waukee Chamber director, urged the council to stick to a master development plan for the area developed two years ago.

“The master plan included multiple and single-family housing, so that includes housing and along with that it included retail and commercial, it was a very well put together plan,” Clark said. “Here we are two years later, talking about the Waukee corridor. Let’s go back to the master plan and see what that includes in this area,” Clark said.