By james art The Madison Village Council approved a rezoning request, the first step needed to expand a senior housing complex.
The council, at its Oct. 28 meeting, unanimously approved an ordinance to rezone a 3.7-acre parcel on Kim Drive from R-2 Single Family Residence District to SC-1, Senior Citizen Residence District.
The zoning change was requested by Madison Limited Partnership, which owns the Madison Woods Senior Apartments at 300 Kim Drive. Madison Limited Partnership also owns the vacant 3.7-acre parcel that was targeted for rezoning.
This lot is located adjacent to the current Madison Woods housing development. Madison Woods was built on land already zoned as an SC-1 Senior Citizen Residence District.
“The intent is to rezone this (vacant) property to conform to (Madison Woods’) senior citizen zoning for future development,” said Jonathan Morshall, an architect with Four Points Architectural Services Inc. from Akron.
Morschl represented Madison Limited Partnership at the public hearing on the zoning request that preceded the Oct. 28 council meeting.
Madison Limited Partnership hopes to build 25 additional one-bedroom apartments for seniors on the site.
“It’s not known at this time when that will happen,” Morshall said.
The ordinance for the desired zoning change also states that the Madison Woods expansion is contingent on Madison Limited Partnership receiving funding for the project.
Morshall brought a schematic drawing to show the council what the new apartments would look like and where they would be located.
However, Village Administrator Dwayne Bailey reminded the council that it will only vote on rezoning the vacant land near Madison Woods and no permission will be given to begin construction.
“They still don’t have, they don’t have a preliminary or final development plan that has gone through the Planning Commission,” Bailey said. “It’s just to illustrate what would be possible there if the zoning changes go through.”
The village’s Planning and Zoning Commission reviewed Madison Limited Partnership’s application for a zoning change during a July meeting. Commission members voted 3-0 to forward the request to council with a positive recommendation for the rezoning.