Dear editor,
I’d like to add my voice to those supporting the rezoning of the North Walnut property to allow refitting a dilapidated nursing home into apartments. I believe this not only will be an important spoke in the wheel needed to help solve our housing shortage, but also could spur momentum in helping other spokes — i.e. the elementary school availability for housing options — come to fruition.
As importantly, I think this decision will also be noticed, internally within Allen County and externally by building developers, existing and potential new businesses, and prospective residents, as setting a tone for us about our openness to progress and willingness to grow.
I attended the city planning board meeting a couple of weeks ago and was impressed with the developer, his examples of other projects and the team he has lined up to tackle the project. A concern expressed by residents from the area about potential traffic congestion can be addressed by the Iola Council and us residents by investing in a new street that would allow ingress and egress to and from State Street into that part of town. This will provide better access for emergency service vehicles, improve convenience for residents and make an asset out of a liability in northwest Iola.
As a member of the Allen County Economic Development Advisory Council, I am encouraged how this project could address our top three priorities for this county: 1) housing; 2) business attraction and retention; and 3) workforce development. The apartments would provide much needed housing for our county in general and for employees of Allen County’s businesses and industries in particular.
I believe we must be open to any ideas — thinking outside of the box — to help ease our housing crisis in this time of high building costs and reluctance of developers to speculate in building new. Likewise, I am excited about the prospect of refitting one or more of our soon-to-be-abandoned elementary schools into housing opportunities. Potential developers will be watching this decision by the City Council on rezoning for the North Walnut apartments; a decision for the development, I believe, could create a momentum for our county in housing.
We all live in Iola and Allen County because we love the small-town way of life. This luxury is getting harder and harder to accommodate, however, because of outmigration by residents and businesses, as can be seen in so many dying communities in rural Kansas, and rural America. I ask members of the Iola City Council to seize this opportunity to preserve our community, in this one small decision to rezone the property on North Walnut to allow the apartments, and for all of us in Allen County to continue fighting to maintain this beautiful rural lifestyle we cherish.
Sincerely,
Bruce Symes,
Iola, Kan.
