'I’m excited by this': Plan to build 21 tiny houses in Green Bay advances over Schmitt Park residents' opposition
GREEN BAY - A Green Bay committee unanimously approved a nonprofit's request to build 21 tiny homes of supportive housing on the city's east side amid strong opposition from Schmitt Park residents near the site.
Veterans 1st of NEW proposed a "cottage court" development in the 2800 block of St. Anthony Drive that would be both the first supportive housing units with on-site services and first tiny home neighborhood built in Green Bay. The 400- and 600-square-foot homes would offer veterans and other residents struggling with homelessness an affordable place to stay that includes on-site services like mental health counseling and job training.
The city's Plan Commission on Thursday night listened to two hours of public testimony from passionate supporters and opponents before the commission voted 5-0 to recommend the City Council approve Veterans 1st's planned unit development request.
"To me, this is an exciting product, a new kind of development we don’t have in the city. I know sometimes new things can be scary, but I’m excited by this," Plan Commission Chair Lisa Hanson said before the vote.
Plan Commission members did approve five conditions recommended by city staff and added two more of their own in an effort to address concerns raised by residents and to give the city flexibility to revisit the approval should the Council or city staff request such a review.
How we got here
Veterans 1st of NEW has for years sought to find a location to develop preferred-veteran supportive housing. In 2023, the Brown County Board unanimously voted to donate 3½ acres of the 260-acre county-owned former Brown County mental health treatment center on St. Anthony Drive for a veteran-preferred supportive housing site.
Early this year, Veterans 1st of NEW applied to the city of Green Bay for a planned unit development permit to develop the cottage court, which includes 21 tiny homes, two parking lots and a community center, all to be developed in three phases.
The supportive services element of Veterans 1st's plan would provide residents of the site professionally administered services like case management, job training, mental health therapy, physical fitness, yoga, counseling and financial literacy education.
Supporters, opponents pack the City Council chambers to speak about proposal
The commission meeting was held in the City Council chambers to accommodate the large volume of interest in the project. Almost 50 people provided testimony to the Plan Commission during a public hearing with a little more than half of speakers offering support.
The proposal had the support of Green Bay-area veterans groups, trade unions, a few Schmitt Park residents and social service providers who either appeared in person or submitted letters of support and offers to provide services to residents of the development.
Supporters focused on the sacrifices veterans have made for the country, the help they need to deal with post-traumatic stress disorder and finding work, and their struggle to find housing.
Lydia Van Thiel, the project implementation director for the Greater Green Bay Blueprint to Prevent and End Homelessness, said there's a major need for supportive, affordable housing units like Veterans 1st wants to develop, especially as the number of unhoused residents in Brown County doubled to 86 from January 2023 to January 2024. Van Thiel also noted emergency shelter stays had increased from an average of 32 days to 83 days.
"We really do need additional affordable, supportive housing projects in our community. This is going to be huge," Van Thiel told the Plan Commission.
What concerned Schmitt Park residents?
Schmitt Park residents raised a variety of concern and reasons to oppose the proposal, some of which went beyond the topics and conditions the Plan Commission could take into account as it considered the request on Thursday night.
The concerns largely centered on:
Safety issues.
Impacts on quality of life.
That few project supporters live in Schmitt Park or the city.
The development's proximity to a potter's field of unmarked graves from the 19th century when the site was Brown County's farm for poor residents, and a general feeling Schmitt Park is a "dumping ground" for public projects like jails, cell towers, county offices and some transitional housing shelters.
Residents' relapsing on drug or alcohol use.
Environmental conditions on the site.
"We're being dumped upon once again and we have no choice in the matter," said Gail Denis, a Schmitt Park resident.
Regarding the cemetery, Brown County officials told city staff the Veterans 1st property does not overlap the unidentified burial ground. There's a general recommendation to maintain a 30-foot buffer between any development and a suspected burial ground. In this case, the tiny homes project would be about 42 feet from the site.
Veterans 1st modify plans and Plan Commission add conditions to address cemetery, operations and safety concerns
Veterans 1st in recent months has modified its plans to address some of the concerns raised by Schmitt Park residents. The group beefed up its operating and security plan to include vigorous intake screening procedures for tenants, 12 security cameras around the site, on-site staff during daytime hours, and one resident "squad leader" for every seven homes on the site.
City staff asked Veterans 1st to improve the tiny homes' designs and use at least three different color schemes for the individual homes. The staff also recommended the Plan Commission place five conditions the project plan:
The planned unit development request be approved by the City Council.
The property needs to be separated from the rest of the county-owned land.
If Veterans 1st dissolves or cannot provide the on-site social services, the use as a supportive housing development terminates immediately. Any effort to revive the use would have to come back before city boards for review.
The City Council or city's director of economic development can request the Plan Commission review the approval if the site gets a large volume of police calls, safety issues are identified or other issues arise.
Veterans 1st must conform to the operating plan it provided to city staff.
The Plan Commission members added two more conditions to those five before recommending the City Council approve the project:
An archaeologist be present during site excavation and grading in case human remains are disturbed. If that happens on any project, work immediately stops.
Site plans identify a dried creek bed located on the site and the development's impact on it when the project applies for building permits.
Green Bay City Council still has to approve Veterans 1st's request
Veterans 1st of NEW's application will not be on the next City Council meeting, scheduled for May 7, but it will be on the two agendas after that.
The planned unit request is expected to get a first reading at the May 21 City Council meeting and a second reading and action during the June 11 City Council meeting.
Contact Jeff Bollier at (920) 431-8387 or jbollier@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JeffBollier.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Green Bay's first tiny home development, focused on veterans, advances
