Residents support Kent State’s housing development but question environmental impact

Terry Schwarz, director of the Cleveland Urban Design Coalition; Doug Pearson, Associate Vice President of Facilities Planning and Operations and Co-Chair of the Intergenerational Village (IGV) Committee; and Bridget Susel, Community Development Director and Co-Chair of the Committee. Nicole Jones/Kent State Collaborative NewsLab

In the first public meeting about Kent State’s plans to construct an “intergenerational village” on campus, members of the Kent community came out to voice both concerns and excitement.

The meeting was held in a seminar room at the Beverly J. Warren Student Recreation and Wellness center on Kent State’s campus on Wednesday night and was attended by just under two dozen members of the community.

Doug Pearson, associate vice president for facilities and operations at Kent State, began the meeting by welcoming the community and sharing the itinerary before handing the meeting over to Theresa Schwarz, director of the Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative.

Both Pearson and Schwarz are members of Kent State’s Steering Committee, which organizes construction projects on campus like the intergenerational village and the new College of Business Administration.

Schwarz and the collaborative have been advising Kent State on what the process for planning and constructing a development like the intergenerational village would look like.

“I want to stress that we are not dictating a program for the site,” she said. “Our steering committee began to talk about examples of good, interesting residential intergenerational projects for what could potentially happen on the site.”

The project is in a very early phase, and there are no formal plans in place, but Pearson and Schwarz were able to share that the development would not be intended for student housing, and would contain no retail.

“The idea is this development will complement the investments that have been happening in downtown Kent, rather than compete with them,” Schwarz said.

The intergenerational village would focus primarily on providing homes for retired residents, nontraditional students (particularly those that are married and/or have children) and families below Kent’s median household income of $83,300.

After members of the steering committee introduced the public to the possibilities of a development, Pearson opened the floor for comment and questions from the public.

One of the stated goals of the project is to be sustainable and positive for the local environment, and one of the most common questions was about how the development would impact nearby wetlands, forests and prairie.

Wendy Yuzik, a homeowner in Kent, said she was concerned about the proposed development’s impacts on the neighboring forest and wildlife. Nicole Jones/Kent State Collaborative NewsLab

Kent resident Jasmine Yuzik shared her concern that the forested area on the southern end of the proposed development would be destroyed.

Yuzik was met with applause when she finished.

Another point met with support and applause from the attendees was the idea that older, retired Kent residents are in need of smaller, affordable housing within their community.

“[It would] be in keeping with this project’s stated goal to preserve and protect this important woodland,” Yuzik said. “This project sounds wonderful, but can this forest be left out of it? I would hate to see this habitat be sold off and eventually be destroyed since Kent State will no longer have a say.”

“I hope you do not underestimate how many people over the age of 55 would have loved to have stayed [in Kent] and there was just minimal housing available,” said Polly Germer. “So they moved out to Stow, to Hudson, to wherever. We would be coming back. We are a valuable piece of the community. We can bring a lot of value if you bring us back.”

Bridget Susel, community development director for the city of Kent and one of the speakers at the meeting, said the city’s research supported this idea.

She referenced a housing needs analysis carried out by the city and the university in 2016.

“[We found] there was a need and demand for affordable, what we call working-class families as well as for empty nesters,” Susel said. “For seniors that are in single-family homes in existing residential areas that want to stay in the community, but do not want to own a separate unit and take care of a lawn.”

Ward 3 Council Member Robin Turner said he attended the meeting to ensure the gathering was only the beginning of a dialogue between the university and members of the community about the development.

Turner was particularly concerned about residents of the existing neighborhoods that abut the proposed project site and making sure they were involved in the process.

“We just want to make sure that the people who are most impacted have an opportunity to have a voice in the overall process,” he said. “[We have to] guarantee that they are involved somehow so that we get an understanding of what their concerns are and how we are able to then tamp down any negative impacts. This participation is essential.”

Despite concerns, many members of the public made clear that they were excited about the prospect of new affordable, intergenerational housing close to campus and the rest of the community.

“When [the intergenerational village] was in the master plan and when it was announced, I was elated and I loved what it sounds like,” said Bob Springer, a Kent resident (and former member of the Portager Board. “I think it’s a fantastic idea and it really would be, as some others have said, transformational for Kent State and the city of Kent.”

Many of the questions from residents were left unanswered, as Pearson was forced to repeatedly say he couldn’t give a definitive answer, or that a decision would be “up to the developer.”

That’s because the meeting was held very early in the planning process. Prospective developers must submit their requests for quotation or proposal by Nov. 5.

Whatever the result of the bidding process, the intergenerational village will be a public-private partnership built on land leased from the university.

“Kent State will not be putting up any capital,” Pearson said.

Of developers that submit by the Nov. 5 deadline, two finalists will be chosen and awarded a $50,000 stipend to prepare detailed proposals. 

The presentation said that the “best case” was that a lease agreement and proposal could appear before the Kent State Board of Trustees in March of 2022.

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Owen MacMillan is a reporter with the Collaborative News Lab @ Kent State University, producing local news coverage in partnership with The Portager.