Should these new apartments have a better connection to Semmes Avenue?
City Council will be asked to approve Ordinance 2024-180 on Monday night, which authorizes an SUP for a set of properties along Semmes/McDonough/22nd to allow construction of up to 266 apartments across 3 buildings. The SUP is required because existing zoning doesn’t allow multifamily housing on the site.
The development is slated to be affordable at the 60% AMI threshold (approximately $65,640 per year), with a mix of 1-3 bedroom units.
Neighbors in the area, while supportive of development of affordable housing at the location, have raised concerns about decisions made regarding the unique geography of the site that they feel are shortsighted and a disservice to the new community.
The land abuts Semmes Avenue, but is 2-to-3 stories lower. This allows for a larger development without being visually overwhelming, but makes for a challenging pedestrian connection to Semmes Avenue.
To access the nearest bus stop on the 2100 block of Semmmes Avenue, for example, residents directly adjacent to Semmes Avenue will have to walk more than a 1/4 mile up McDonough to 24th and back along Semmes, or up a 2-to-3 story high set of stairs. Neither these is a good solution to someone with a walker, a stroller, groceries, a wheelchair, etc.
A letter from a neighbor attached as Public Comment to the ordinance observes clearly that “this proposal does not allow residents of the new building any access to Semmes Avenue, except for a long flight of stairs. All entrances and exits for the building would be down the hill. In short, it will make access to public transportation impossible for disabled and/or elderly residents — or any residents who are unable to climb a long flight of stairs.”
“This development will last longer than the current housing crisis,” says a resident of neighboring Belle Heights. “This problem requires a creative solution. Maybe it is the city’s responsibility, maybe it is the developer but we need something in writing.”
City Council meets at Monday, July 22, at 6PM at Council Chamber on the 2nd Floor of City Hall. The meetings are available online via Microsoft Teams HERE or dial *67-804-316-9457 and enter ID: 699 320 131#.
Some of that area should not be built on, it is a flood area.
This would likely add a ton of overhead and additionally permitting to the project and potentially be unpopular for that reason, but an enclosed or covered pedestrian footbridge to Semmes, exiting the building above the ground floor, might help accessibility.
To be amended and continued to September 9