‘Tiny homes’ for vets win early OK over opposition
A plan to develop up to 48 “tiny homes” for homeless veterans on Milwaukee’s northwest side has won an initial city approval — over objections from neighborhood residents and business owners.
The project is planned for a city-owned site at 6767 W. Green Tree Road. Veterans Outreach of Wisconsin Inc., a nonprofit group, would buy the 7-acre site for $35,000, under a proposal approved Thursday by the Redevelopment Authority board.
Under that proposal, which also needs Common Council approval, Veterans Outreach would develop 36 to 48 homes, each with 240 square feet.
The proposal is based on the group’s Racine development: the James A. Peterson Veterans Village.
That project, which opened in 2017, features 15 tiny homes and a community center with showers, laundry facilities, kitchen, food pantry and recreation areas.
Veterans Outreach would finance the $2 million development with grants and donations, said Jeff Gustin, executive director.
As in Racine, Veterans Outreach would work with local veterans groups to provide social services for the residents, he said.
Gustin said the homes would not amount to a transitional shelter with shortterm stays. He also said residents would need to be sober for 30 days before moving there.
“Bad things happen to good people, and we’re giving them a second chance,” Gustin said.
Ald. Chantia Lewis, whose district includes the site, supports the project. “It’s the least we can do for those who fight for our freedoms every day,” said
Lewis, herself a veteran.
The proposal was opposed by neighborhood residents, and by officials from the Havenwoods Business Improvement District.
They want the land to remain for light industrial use, saying developing the site for that purpose would generate more jobs and property tax revenue.
Around 50 acres of land zoned for light industrial use on Milwaukee’s northwest side has been rezoned for other uses over the past decade, said Stephanie Harling, business improvement district executive director.
Changing the zoning would conflict with the city’s plan for the northwest side, she said.
But Lewis said the site has been vacant for several years and has drawn little interest from industrial developers. Also, Lewis said that, even with the land sale, the city would still own 33 acres adjacent to the site that could be eventually developed for light industrial use.