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Janesville reviews two housing concepts for 55-acre city parcel as residents press traffic, buffering and stormwater concerns
Summary
City staff and consultant Sea Planning Studio showed two concept plans—Option A with 270 units and Option B with 234—on a 55-acre city-owned site; council members and residents raised questions about school drop-off traffic at Jackson Elementary, buffering from nearby industrial uses, stormwater management and who would fund infrastructure. Consultants said drawings will be revised and a public open house is set for Dec. 11.
City staff and consultants presented two concept plans on Nov. 13 for developing a 55-acre city-owned site in Janesville, showing trade-offs between density, neighborhood buffering and infrastructure costs as residents flagged traffic near Jackson Elementary and long-standing expectations that the site remain green space.
The presentation to the joint Janesville City Council and Planning Commission was led by city staff and consultant Carolyn Esplin of Sea Planning Studio, who said the parcel contains about 39 developable acres and that the exercise is a city-led conceptual study, not a submitted development proposal. "We know that there's an affordability and availability crisis" in the community, a city staff member said, noting a recent regional analysis that showed job growth outpacing housing supply and a jump in median sale price from about $177,000 in August 2020 to nearly $280,000 five years later.
Why it matters: The city is exploring use of a large publicly owned property to add housing across income levels. Residents and…
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