Council OKs street plans, but Westwind contention continues ron christianson steve gardner planny commission gary peterson

Beth H.
04/02/2008 5:42 PM

I couldn't agree with you more Jared. You should run against one of the 'Anit-Willmar 5' (Andersen, Gardner, DeBlieck, Reese, & Heitke).

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Joey U.
Willmar, MN     04/02/2008 3:09 PM

There is a multitude of reasons why the West Wind Development is a horrible idea. Why on earth would a housing partnership want to come into a market with a glut of low income housing already available (over 130 homes under $200,000 right now!) If they were really interested in our low income housing problem, they would have been much more active in marketing grant programs to potential homeowners who could rehab our existing low income housing stock. It should be becoming painfully obvious that they do not have our best interest in mind. The result of high density low income housing negatively impacts surrounding home values and contributes to the rot of existing lower value housing stock. In the current market place, many of the lower value homes are bank repo’s that will remain vacant with little no improvement unless buyers come in to rehab and improve those properties. The volume of available low income housing will drastically increase over the next two years via foreclosure activity alone. I would not be surprised to see 200+ homes on the market next year under $150,000. I viewed the homes the housing partnership has for sale in other communities and it is pretty obvious that they are “quick construct” homes without the amenities such as decks and fully completed landscaping which is more typical of new homes in the price ranges they are marketing. When you see local developers back out of projects because of this, it is really sad. Just the sound of a high density low income housing project has forced local investors out of the area and construction has not even begun. And a likely scenario is that you will see deterioration of that section of the city, which houses a fair number of retirees as well as continued rot of existing low income housing, much of which is located near downtown. You can’t say you support downtown and then ignore the housing situation that surrounds it – the two go hand in hand! It seems to me we should have more loyalty to our local developers, contractors and investors than we do to a housing partnership we’ve had little contact with in the past. My wife and I purchased the home next to ours out of a foreclosure and put $25,000 of improvements into it. I support progress and growth within the city, but this project will simply pull subsidized tenants from existing homes and apartments and place them in a concentrated area. That has never worked very well in the past and I don’t believe it will work well now either. You should have great reservations about this project for a multitude of reasons, some of which are just now coming to your attention, but all of which should have been very obvious before anyone even submitted an application!

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Beth H.
04/02/2008 1:44 PM

David, 'Willmar 4' is a great name for them! Thanks to the 'Willmar 4' for looking out for the best interest of the City of Willmar! You guys are doing the city a great service by stopping this project.

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David B.
04/02/2008 11:18 AM

Do we know have the "Willmar 4" I say Bravo to the council members who walked out. They truly care about the city of Willmar and don't want to see their constituents property values fall, due to rental housing and twin homes to bring the property values in that part of town down. Why have a city council who doesn't listen to the populace of the city?

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Beth H.
04/02/2008 10:53 AM

Steven T. I think you should do some more research on this project!!

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Jerry M.
04/02/2008 9:35 AM

Steven--If I built a house next to yours that was worth $100,000 less than yours would that devalue your property? How about if I started a totally different type of housing in the middle of the block? This has NOTHING to do with people and/or religion. Mr. Christianson brought that up only to illustrate that SWMHP LIED to the Planning Commission and the City Council. Mr. Goodeman tried to do that same thing at the Zoning Appeals Board when he claimed each lot would be about 1/2 acre in size. If you take all the land and divide it by the number of lots that's true, but there is 11 acres of the developement for a park and at least another acre for a stormwater pond. Most of the lots themselves work out to less than 1/3 of an acre for each duplex complex. Mr. Goodeman also said that he checked into housing values in the area and quoted the Assessed value (a much lower value than market value) to the Board. If this project is on the "up and up", why does SWMHP feel the need to stretch the numbers so much? As for the taking care of the property issue:Since 2003 when SWMHP took over the land, the noxious (outlawed by the MN Dept of Ag) weeds in the area have been atrocious. Trying to be good neighbors, we called SWMHP and nothing was done. We were forced to call the City and after a few weeks (just enough time for the thistles to go to seed) the weeds were mowed. Guess what happened 2 weeks later--more weeds!!! Don't tell me SWMHP will be a good landlord--they haven't proven in the 5 years they've been here.

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Steven T.
04/02/2008 8:58 AM

Marie are you suggesting that the new construction would be shoddy and thus cause the devaluation of the adjoining property? Is the opposition about this solely on the construction quality? As to those who would purchase Deron, isn't this project also targeting moderate incomes too? What has often been stated about this project is that it targets likely three income levels of people extreme low, low and moderate incomes. This article once again mentions that fact, yet it seems to always be ignored that MODERATE INCOME alse qualifies for homes in this area. Would this not negate the fear of this segregating a certain population? Certainly the fact that anyone not just one ethnic race shows that this project would embrace a diverse buyer.

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Marie H.
04/02/2008 8:10 AM

Steve-The adjoining neighbors who testified at the Appeals Hearing remarked that SWMHP have proven that they are not good neighbors. SWMHP claim that they will maintain the property. Yet, the neighbors filed a complaint with the city to have the weeds sprayed and cut. SWMHP knew the deadline to appeal. They made a strategic move by not attending the December meeting. Comparing the Planning & Zoning Minutes to their application, SWMHP lied. As one person who was next to me said, "If you can't trust them now how can we trust them later." The sad thing Councilman Doug Reese kept claimming that their responsibility is to follow the law, the rules, and the facts. HOWEVER, Reese, Gardner, Anderson & DeBlieck did not. They can't be trusted either. What is really irritating to me is Gardner & Reese quote or paraphrase scriptures from the Bible to qualify their decision. Yet Gardner has arrogantly called many of his constituents "racists." Truth be known, these individuals have personally embraced or served people of diversity in this community and other locations where they previously resided. Steve since you are from Blomkest, not Willmar and are continuing playing the same Heitke, Gardner, Reese, Anderson & DeBlieck tune, your interest in this local topic is suspicious or at least bewildering.

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Deron A.
04/01/2008 10:48 PM

This story was a little confusing but maybe you had to be there!? Anyway, way to go fearless four! Keep up the good work (Christianson, Swenson, Dokken, Fagerlie). Do whatever it takes against the mayor and his cronies. Mr. Gardner, as one who represents my ward, please resign effective immediately. Your antics are beyond tiresome. By the way, the story said low and moderate income. Oh please...get your facts straight. From what I understand listening to the Council and reading previous articles, this is very low income, government subsidized housing AND rental units. I can think of no where else in Willmar that we have anything similar. I proposed earlier that this project be carried out in the mayor's own neighborhood since it is "so necessary for the good of the city". But the mayor is understandably not too keen on that.

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Frank R.
04/01/2008 10:27 PM

Steven how gullible are you? Now I'm not saying anything good or bad about the company. But do you really think they would have a link on THEIR web site that says something bad about them? Again maybe their is nothing bad about them.....I don't know. But I sure as heck wouldn't base my decision from something on THEIR website or a link from it. You would need to talk to lots of people who live in their homes and live NEXT door to these places. Like someone said it doesn't sound like they have anything like this somewhere else. So it would be a hard decision.

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