Candidates struggle to find balance

By Russ Pulley
Special to the Journal

A major issue emerging in Blue Springs City Council races - again - is multi-family housing.
It was a campaign theme last year for Sheila Solon and Lyle Shaver, who won their first terms on the Council. The battle over who will control development of new housing in Blue Springs is showing up in candidate forums, editorials, letters, and Web sites.
In the mayor's race, Carson Ross is blasting his opponent, contending that Jeff Quibell has been part of a trend toward construction of too much multi-family housing, without a critical eye for quality.
The city shouldn't have approved the "barracks" on Adams Dairy Parkway, Ross said.
Quibell says he thinks the city has an acceptable balance of multi-family housing, but needs to be mindful as future projects are considered. He said the town homes like those on the parkway are important housing for residents who will later move up to more expensive homes.
Ross is endorsing Emil Spears and Ron Fowler, while staying neutral on the District 1 race between Ted Anderson and Jeanie Lauer. Quibell said he's philosophically more aligned with Kent Edmondson, Ken Billups Jr. and Lauer.
The nuts-and-bolts of the debate are complex, but at their core lies the question of how Blue Springs, as a booming Kansas City suburb, apportions its housing stock, the majority of which is single-family.
Multifamily zoning, by contrast, can result in apartments or in attached housing that is both owner-occupied and rental.
Candidates more accepting of additional multi-family say it will be needed for baby boomers or young professionals who want owner-occupied units that don't have yards to maintain.
Critics counter those town homes - also known as row houses - could be leased, and there are concerns that too many rental properties could affect overall property values and quality of life. Ross and his supporters point to projects where the Council was told the units would be owner-occupied but now are being leased, such as controversial units on Adams Dairy Parkway.
Currently, Blue Springs is nearly 73 percent single-family homes, while an October study by city staff showed that if all projects now approved are completed, the trend could take Blue Springs to just under 70 percent multi-family.
By comparison, Overland Park in July 2007 was 39.4 percent multi-family, according to a city report.
Since 2000, Blue Springs has been adding multi-family dwellings at a rate of about two units to each single-family home.
That pace is unacceptable to Ross and his supporters.
Many residents agree: A recent city survey showed that 72 percent of respondents think construction of multi-family housing is going "too fast" or "much too fast."
Quibell, however, says that statistic alone doesn't mean Blue Springs is destined to become a problem-ridden community. He contends that the additional construction has increased the overall balance by a single percentage point, from 26.5 percent multi-family units to 27.5 percent.