Iola Mayor Steve French couldn’t help but feel a sense of deja vu as he heard arguments unfold about a developer’s plans to convert an abandoned nursing home in Iola into an apartment complex.
French was in attendance at the Jan. 18 Iola Planning Commission meeting where, after hearing opponents speak out against Rockey Meo’s proposal to turn the old Arkhaven Nursing Home property into one- and two-bedroom apartments, the Commission voted against the developer’s zoning variance request, 4-2.
While the vote did not settle the matter — Iola City Council members have the final say Feb. 14 — the meeting vividly painted the opposing viewpoints about Meo’s proposal.
On one side were those who did not want the development in their neighborhood. On the other were those who saw it as crucial to retaining Iola’s workforce.
For the eight neighbors who spoke at the meeting, the prospect of an apartment complex would mean depressed home values because, in their opinion, the developer likely would not follow through on his promises.
“Our fear is a lack of upkeep,” said neighbor Beck Nilges. “We’re gonna have to live with it every day.”
And while she was the only one at the Planning Commission meeting who spoke in favor of Meo’s proposal, Iolan Mary Kay Heard hammered home Iola’s lack of affordable housing, and the ongoing struggle local businesses have had in finding employees.
“We’ve gotta keep the companies we have satisfied,” said Heard, a member of Iola Industries. “And they can’t get workers. There’s no place for them to live … This gentleman is ready to invest in Iola. It’s really important not to overlook that aspect of it.”
Regardless of how nice the property would become, neighbor Bob Droessler also touched on another bone of contention. To accommodate Meo’s plans to add 54 apartments, he also would revamp the parking lot to add additional stalls.
It was the traffic issue that caused Planning Commission member Teresa Longbotham to voice her concerns with Meo’s request.
“The number of apartment units is a lot for that small area,” Longbotham said, adding she preferred having more background information than what was provided at the Jan. 18 meeting before she would support such development.
But with tabling the matter not an option, Longbotham was among the four members who voted against Meo’s request.
Of the two Planning Commission members who voted in favor of recommending the zoning variance, only Tony Godfrey came closest to explaining his vote. Prior to the vote, Godfrey encouraged the others to look solely at whether Meo’s proposed zoning adhered to criteria spelled out in the city’s Unified Development Code.
Those criteria include whether the property conforms to Iola’s comprehensive plan, and whether an apartment complex would be compatible with the existing neighborhood, and whether having it rezoned would negatively impact neighboring properties.
FRENCH noted the striking similarities between this year’s debate and one that took place in Iola nearly nine years ago, in the summer of 2013.
Then, a developer was hoping to construct an assisted living facility for Alzheimer’s patients along a residential area on North Kentucky Street.
Then, as now, neighbors were vocal in their opposition, fearing such development would depreciate the value of their homes and properties, while a few voices noted the development would be good for Iola.
And then, as now, Planning Commission members voted to recommend the city not rezone the property to allow the work to proceed.
French, who was on the City Council at the time heard all of the debate, and was among the six Council members to go against the Planning Commission’s recommendation, and approved the zoning variance.
The issue became moot not much later, when one of the neighbors objecting to the development, bought the property in question, leaving the developer in search of a new site.
A new property was found in Chanute.
In 2014, Country Place Senior Living opened its doors not far from Chanute Elementary School on the west edge of town as part of the rapidly growing Osa Martin Subdivision.
Fears of living close to such a facility apparently haven’t materialized in Chanute, noted Matt Godinez, executive director of the Chanute Regional Development Authority, who pointed to several new homes built in the same subdivision since the facility opened its doors.
“There’s quite a bit of development there,” Godinez said, “and people are continuing to build.”
FRENCH fears Iola lost a good deal when Country Place decided to open in Chanute.
Even with property tax abatement incentives for the first 10 years after construction, Iola would have come out ahead, French offered.
Now, in 2022, the city would have been less than two years away from recouping all of the property taxes on a $2 million facility, he noted.
That’s why he will encourage the Council to take its due diligence in deciding whether to approve Meo’s request.
“We need people,” French said. “We have people who say we need housing, ‘just not in my neighborhood.’”
French’s fear is that without additional housing, and soon, employers here will soon begin looking elsewhere.
“There’s going to come a tipping point,” French said. .
ROBIN SCHALLIE agrees.
As Iola Area Chamber of Commerce director, Schallie fields calls on a daily basis from people looking to find a place to rent in Iola.
Schallie oversees the Grow Iola website, an online service that connects landlords with prospective tenants.
It’s common for a landlord to list an available rental and have a dozen or more applications within a day or two.
One such property was listed last Friday. By the start of the week, 19 applications for the home were filled.
“Last week, we had six new properties up for rent,” she said. “One apartment was rented quickly. Another house was rented in three days. We had 17 people interested in that home.”
The vast majority are looking for places that rent in the $500 a month range, Schallie added. “That seems to be the sweet spot. We have some very attractive homes at $725 or more, but they don’t get as many applications.”
She elaborated on the high demand.
“We get calls from people — and these are not even those who are applying for the rentals — asking us about what’s available, telling us they’ve been offered a job, and they need a place to live. We field calls on that daily.”
Schallie kept the Chamber office closed Wednesday because of inclement weather.
“We came into the office Thursday morning with three voicemails,” she noted. “They were for housing.
“There are people who call us and say, they can only drive back and forth, an hour and hour and a half, for so long. If they can’t find anything, they change jobs. It’s a real issue. In a small town, it’s very noticeable that we don’t have a lot of availability.”
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