Kern Street Redevelopment

Context

City effort to develop the Kern Street neighborhood site (between Cates Avenue and Leonard) for affordable home ownership. Three concepts were presented: option one, 24 condominium units with HOA-maintained common areas and private drives; option two, 18 traditional lots of about 1,200 sq ft homes on a public street; option three, 20 small lots mixing about 900 sq ft cottages and 1,200 sq ft homes on a public street. Options two and three need relief on rear setbacks, lot size and frontage, possibly through a cluster or planned unit development ordinance. Details come from auto-captions.

Status

A show of hands on October 12, 2026 favored option three. Staff will return to the project's design firm (captioned McGill), go through the Planning Board and Board of Adjustment as needed, and aim to break ground within 12 months.

Log

• 2026-10-12 - Council Briefing - Eddie Bowling and Chuck George presented options one to three; council favored option three (20 units).
• 2026-10-06 - City Council - Eddie Bowling told the Public Safety Committee that staff and McGill and Associates have two very different neighborhood designs needing a zoning text change, and asked to bring them to the October 12 briefing for direction.
• 2026-09-09 - Personnel and Finance Committee - Manager and deputy manager explained the housing authority route; members leaned toward option two (city funds infrastructure, Home Solutions builds) and about 20 homes; policy to return.
• 2026-07-20 - City Council - Eddie Bowling reported McGill and Associates was awarded engineering and design, survey work underway, the School of Government was consulted, and the concept is owner-occupied workforce housing (one to three bedrooms) at higher density to lower lot costs.