By Dave Fidlin
Correspondent
Neighborhood development and preservation of single-family housing stock — issues that have been contentious in the past — were revisited recently by Whitewater officials as long-range planning efforts continue.
The Common Council on Aug. 16 reopened its review of the issue, though no formal directives were handed down. As with most communities hosting a university, Whitewater has a long history of having rental properties that accommodate students living off campus.
Questions of how the rental properties mesh with the city’s existing single-family residences have percolated within the community in the past.
“In previous years, the subject of neighborhood preservation has, at times, pitted interest groups against one another and degenerated into a debate of rental vs. owner-occupied property ownership,” City Manager Cameron Clapper said.
The city’s most recent look at single-family housing stemmed from one of last year’s conceptual strategic planning meetings. Clapper said he has fielded interest from council members who would like to discuss the issue further and possibly draft policy decisions that could shepherd new single-family residential developments in the future.
While the city can try to adopt policies to spur new owner-occupied residential developments, officials were quick to point out market forces will ultimately play a role in determining when new projects will surface.
“Future boosts to the local economy will be greatly impacted by residential home growth,” Clapper said. “Keeping current single-family home residents and attracting more to the community will depend on a wide variety of factors — not the least of which will be available home stock and home price.”
Other forces at play, Clapper said, include where a home is located within the community.
“The quality of a neighborhood where the home is located can not only influence the purchase of a home, but also determine how long the homeowner will remain in a particular area,” he said.
Reflecting the sentiment within the community, council members shared a variety of views on the issue at last week’s meeting.
Council member Stephanie Goettl said she believes it is important to gain an understanding of why people do not want to locate in the community. She listed the lack of a full-service grocery store and limited full-time employment opportunities as potential reasons.
“I’ve never heard anyone say the reason they don’t live in Whitewater is they couldn’t find a house,” Goettl said. “There’s always another reason.”
Council President Patrick Singer said he believes the issue runs deeper than prospective homebuyers looking at a specific make or model of a home and passing up Whitewater for another community.
“We can’t just artificially create demand,” Singer said, suggesting the city embark on a study of its existing single-family housing stock and measure it against potential future needs.
At last week’s council meeting, Jeff Knight, chair of the city’s Community Development Authority (CDA), said the governing body was going to facilitate a housing survey with assistance from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
Knight said UW-Whitewater employees hired within the past decade will be asked to take part in the survey. Human resources directors within the city’s industrial park also will be queried in an effort to gain meaningful feedback.
