By Dave Fidlin
Correspondent
A property owner’s request last week to rezone his home to accommodate University of Wisconsin-Whitewater students sparked a broader discussion about off-campus housing and the supply of existing single-family dwellings.
Geoff Hale, who has owned a home at 261 Church St. for nine years, went before the Whitewater Plan and Architectural Commission on May 13 and sought an amendment to the city’s zoning code to accommodate a student-housing scenario.
In the request, Hale sought permission to have up to six unrelated persons rent the home, which was constructed in 1886.
However, commissioners, at the advice of a staffer’s recommendation, narrowed the approval down to four unrelated persons.
City Planner Chris Munz-Pritchard said inspections of the dwelling revealed the home had 1,658.5 square feet of livable space. The city’s zoning code for overlays, a scenario playing out with this property, states four or more persons could live in homes with 1,390 to 1,719 square feet of livable space.
Hale, for his part, said he sought permission to have up to six unrelated persons because the home has six bedrooms.
“All of the bedrooms are ample in size,” Hale said. “There’s nothing short of what we considered a bedroom.”
Several commissioners, including Sherry Stanek, spoke about the zoning code and its importance at a time when the city is trying to address housing needs throughout the community.
“We’re trying to get a handle on this and clean this process up,” Stanek said. “There’s plenty of (student) housing. We don’t need to have extra people in a building.”
During the broad-reaching discussion, Stanek said the city also is attempting to bring rental properties more in line with the standards of owner-occupied, single-family homes. Speaking in generalities, Stanek said rentals tend to have less landscaping, for instance.
“I don’t have an issue with students, to be honest,” Stanek said. “I have an issue with landlords.”
In response, Hale said, “I take exception to that,” asserting some owner-occupied homes in the city have less landscaping than rentals.
Council member Lynn Binnie, who serves as a commissioner, also pointed to recent assertions the city is “over-bedded” for student housing accommodations at the moment as a result of the university’s current enrollment figures.
Stanek, who in the past has advocated for more single-family housing in the city, asked if Hale made the home available to a family looking to rent.
Hale said he would be open to such a proposal if it presented itself but noted Church Street generally is geared toward student housing because of the close proximity to the UW-Whitewater campus.
“You’re living in a university town, and you have to accommodate (students) as well,” Hale said.
Although she continued to tout a desire for more single-family housing accommodations, Stanek said she believed right-sized accommodations for UW-Whitewater students were important.
“Without the university, we’re Palmyra,” Stanek said. “Not that there’s something wrong with Palmyra.”
The commission’s recommendation will go before the Common Council on May 21.
