Politicians discuss Smart Growth
Germantown’s Smart Growth plan to entice new residents with apartments in multi-use developments has earned mixed opinions from citizens and politicians.
And the debate has become rather contentious from apartment developments planned in the suburb’s southeastern corner to mixeduse developments like Thornwood at Exeter and Germantown Road.
Last year, concerns arose about the effect various size apartments have on the community. That continued until January when the Board of Mayor and Aldermen — at Mayor Mike Palazzolo‘s request — put a moratorium in place to study how they impact communities.
“I’m pretty proud of (the moratorium),” Palazzolo said, adding there is a year left in the evaluation process.
Some residents are concerned about the suburb’s Smart Growth approach. And they
have an advocate in Alderman Dean Massey, who expressed his reservations earlier this year when voting against accelerating growth.
As Thornwood constructs its apartments, Massey worries about detracting from the community and nearby neighborhoods.
“At this point there is nothing we can do about Thornwood,” Massey said. “The problem I have with Thornwood is the way that it was presented to the public. It passed to begin with, without opposition. The mayor’s administration represented that those apartments were going to be condos where families would actually have ownership in the property.”
Palazzolo said further research of the original Thornwood plans reflected the apartments under construction. He is excited about the project and its proximity to the Germantown Performing Arts Center and shops along Exeter Road.
“Germantown is a desired community of choice,” the mayor said. “(Thornwood) is another choice so that people can stay in place.”
Some worry the number of developments featuring apartments will strain school enrollments.
The city is building a new elementary school on the east side of Forest HillIrene south of Poplar Pike with a planned opening for the 2019-20 school year. The new campus will start as a K-3 school and eventually extend to K-5. the Germantown Municipal School District is also building an addition to Houston Middle School.
The mayor said if the schools must, they can use portables as a temporary solution, but he does not want that to be a long-term plan.
“Our schools are already overcrowded,” Massey said. “Now we’ve built a new school and those two apartment projects that they’ve built (in the southeast quadrant), those kids will only further overcrowd the schools.”
Palazzolo said the city is studying what these planned family housing units will bring as far as children.
“There is always a dilemma with growth,” the mayor said.
Massey said in Germantown’s Western Gateway near Kirby Parkway, a development with family housing was caught in the moratorium, but applicants have asked for waiver of the moratorium to begin construction.
“(Smart Growth) was a plan that was supposed to work out over many, many years, but as soon as the current mayor was elected they started pushing them through,” Massey said.
The alderman suggested that the board is getting as many plans approved as possible before the mayoral elections in November when Palazzolo faces Alderman John Barzizza for the suburb’s top elected seat.
Massey said he has seen the way the plans have effected his hometown of Oxford, Mississippi, and that his family is still suffering the consequences of it.
Palazzolo argued that Germantown’s Smart Growth has been more strategic as study continues with the moratorium in place.
There is little land left in Germantown that can be developed so he wants to purposefully use what is left.
“(Smart Growth) has been around for 14 years, It had to weather the recession of ‘08,” Palazzolo said, adding he is confident in the plans for its future.