A series of meetings between city representatives and neighbors to the 10-acre Kiowa Ponds property appears to have eased concerns regarding the rezoning of the controversial city-owned parcel, opening the way for the sale of the property.

The rezoning of the property from light residential to light commercial has been aggressively sought by the city in order to raise its value from about $1 million, to as high as $4 million.

Gary Kellogg, president of the Partnership for Economic Development, was given the task of working out a compromise with the neighbors to move the rezoning and sale forward. He said a series of conditions were being drawn up that would be added to the zoning to address locals concerns.

“I think we have found a way to satisfy the city’s desire to bring the property to its highest and best use — which is commercial — while being able to mitigate the neighbors’ concerns through this conditional zoning,” Kellogg said.

Resident Trisha Gagnon, who was appointed by the city as a representative of the neighbors, said she was cautiously optimistic that quality of life issues were being properly addressed. “I think we’re working in a positive direction toward the rezone,” she said. “I do have concerns about how that conditional zoning will be enforced. I’m putting my faith into what they’re saying.”

The exact terms of the conditional zoning are still being developed, and a date has not yet been set for the parcel to go before the Planning and Zoning Commission. Yet Kellogg said that many of the major concerns of the neighbors had been spelled out in a preliminary document.

With the property being rezoned to commercial, the likelihood is high that the eventual use of the property will be for a major retailer similar to other projects along the highway.

Kellogg said that problems such as traffic, lighting, noise and other concerns were being addressed.

In particular, neighbors have expressed fears that traffic for a major commercial project would be routed through what are now residential streets. But under the tentative conditional zoning plans, that would no longer be an issue.

“All the entrances to the project would be off of the highway,” he said.

Noise and lighting were also being addressed. “There’s no overnight parking for trucking on the property, with their engines running constantly,” Kellogg said. “The building that would be built there would have no doors or windows facing south or west, toward the neighborhood — they would all face the highway.”

With the city facing steep declines in tax revenues, funds from the Kiowa Ponds sale have been eyed for a variety of projects in the city. Once the property is rezoned, it appears highly likely that it will move quickly to auction.

But the city’s haste to sell the property was disheartening to Gagnon, who wondered if another major retail project was really necessary on the highway. “We already have a deficit of open space in the city,” she said.

You may contact the reporter at jrudolf@havasunews.com.