More than two years after it was first proposed, the initiative to create a housing and business development in the southern part of Ottawa Hills has remained unresolved.
Arising from the 2016 Ottawa Hills Vision Plan and a study done by OHM Advisors, the plan, which was first proposed in March, 2021, would have taken over the land near Richards Road and Bancroft Street that currently houses the village’s municipal buildings, and it quickly became a hot talking point within the community.
It was also a prominent issue in the 2021 village council race, with multiple candidates expressing a desire to see the plan through to completion.
“My first day after I was sworn in, I proposed the site,” Councilman Dana Dunbar said in October, 2021. “That's maybe why I think the mayor had faith in me to try to get something done on this project.”
Ottawa Hills Mayor Kevin Gilmore described the vision plan as arising out of certain community needs on which the village wanted feedback.
“The whole idea of the plan was to try to gauge community interest for what they would like to see happen in the coming decades,” Mr. Gilmore said Monday.
Surveys were taken, which revealed that the community was interested in more alternative housing options, especially for young professionals or people who prefer living in apartments or townhouse-style homes. The discussions took off from there.
“With this potential project we were trying to address that,” Mr. Gilmore said of village housing needs, but over the last two years those discussions ended up staying only discussions.
“Is it a need? Yes. Is there readily available land to do that in? No,” the mayor said. “I am not sure if there is a solution to that issue or not.”
The project has then remained in limbo.
Village Administrator John Wenzlick attributed the inaction to the desire of public officials to further consider the practicality of the 7-acre site, which was projected to cost north of $35 million to redevelop.
“They just wanted to slow down a little bit and take a look at the Avis property at the corner of Bancroft and Richards,” Mr. Wenzlick said.
That property, just north of the municipal site, has been privately owned for some 40 years, though the village has recently indicated interest in buying it as part of an initiative that is seeking to improve traffic flow in that area.
“They are doing a traffic study this year from Bancroft and Secor all the way to the western edge of the village limits to see what improvements can be made there for long-term planning and space for pedestrians and bicyclists,” Mr. Wenzlick said.
The administrator said that this study will be very important to determine the feasibility of any future development project, although he said council is not focused on any specific project at this time.
This is while the health of the village’s municipal building, which would have been rebuilt as part of the 2021 idea, continues to be a concern.
“The current building is in very poor shape,” Mr. Gilmore said. “We calculated that the cost to rehabilitate it would probably exceed the cost to build something new.:
"At some point in time, we are going to have address putting a new building in," he said. "Is that going to be addressed in the next year or two? No. But it does need to be looked at.”
In March, 2021, Mr. Wenzlick noted that the municipal building is about 100 years old and is no longer conducive to village operations.
More than two years later he said still feels the same way.
“This one does not work well for the business model of the people that work inside,” he said. “That is one of the things that the finance committee and council as a whole is taking a look at, like what are those options and what do we plan on doing.”
First Published September 2, 2023, 2:32 p.m.
