NEENAH, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – The location is actually currently part of the Town of Neenah, west of the city. It’s situated near the intersection of Pendleton Road and Cecil Street.
Mayor Dean Kaufert tells WLUK taking over the land through annexation will expand the city’s tax base.
“Annexation of some land that’s presently not in the city. Providing a more orderly gateway for us to move to the west”
But neighbors, like Blaine Luamer, say they’re concerned about what the apartments could do to property values.
“Someone that rents doesn’t always take complete care of where they live. We still have other concerns about blasting, because the bedrock that’s right there. It’s already a speedway through here. It’s a super wide street, it’s four wide.”
The city would also give the developer $2 million in tax incentives to build.
The city council held on approving the development plan last week. It tasked city employees with gathering more information, a lot of which, community development director Chris Haese says, they’ve already done.
“What we’re finding both nationally and locally is that the multi-family-type developments don’t have much of an impact on surrounding property values”
And research has shown the traffic won’t be much worse than a development with single-family homes.
Laumer says the apartment plan is better than some alternative developments, but still, “We would love to just have it stay the way it is, you know, forever, that’s for sure.”
The earliest the city council could vote on the development plan would be next Tuesday.
The state will also have to approve the city’s take over of the town’s land.
