(ABC 6 News) – A development project in northwest Kasson sits at a standstill after residents voiced their concerns before the city’s Planning and Zoning Board Monday night.

The project’s developer is looking to add a number of single and multi-family homes to a 29-acre lot adjacent to the current Stone Ridge neighborhood.

During the public hearing, neighbors voiced their concerns, including potential increased traffic and further straining community resources, like emergency services.

Board member and Kasson Fire Chief Joe Fitch echoed those concerns while voicing his disapproval of the project.

“I personally think it’s too many, I think we’re too congested,” he said. “Can we respond with it built the way that it’s drawn and presented here tonight? Yes, absolutely we can. Will there be issues and concerns? Yes.”

In the end, the board denied the request to re-zone the property as it’s written in the current proposal.

However, the board is recommending that the city council approve switching the land from low density to medium density, as described in the city’s comprehensive plan, which could open up for allowing more housing units per acre in the future.

Ultimately, it will be the council’s decision to approve any of the changes necessary for the plan to get off the ground.

The council meets Wednesday at 6:00 P.M. and the agenda is available online.

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(ABC 6 News) – People in Kasson voiced their concerns at the monthly Planning and Zoning Commission meeting Monday over a proposed development plan to bring affordable housing to the northwest side of town.

The catch, however, is that a similar plan was already shot down earlier this year.

Prior to the meeting, ABC 6 spoke with residents near the site of the proposal, who said the issue comes down to how this kind of development will impact a community whose resources are already spread thin.

Kaeley Smith’s home backs up to what is currently an empty 29-acre lot, but as of a week ago, is now the potential site for the development plan.

“I had to make some calls to find out what they were digging in our backyard for,” she said, referring to an unrelated development project. “But because of that call, I heard that the row behind us would be single family homes and then townhomes. That’s as much detail as I got until Friday when they posted how many townhomes and single family homes would be there.”

The proposed project involves multiple steps.

The site currently is designated as low density residential, but the developer is requesting it be changed to medium density, allowing for more living units to be placed on the lot.

The project contains plans for 13 single family homes and an assortment of multi-unit townhomes, 121 units in total.

The new plan would connect to the existing neighborhood along two avenues, with another road extending out to highway 57 to the east.

That’s a lot of housing in a small area that some residents say already struggles with congestion.

“It’s just bottle necked, it’s sardines in a can that really only has a small little opening,” said Smith.

There are other considerations as well.

Kasson and Dodge County in general are strapped for emergency services.

Stasha Sokolowski, another resident near the site and a nurse, worries more people will overwhelm what remains.

“It would take a lot longer for ambulances to get to us, or we would be waiting for a rig to come from Rochester, and that’s not acceptable in an emergency situation,” she said.

Smith also worries about the strain adding more families could have on an already limited childcare space.

“I have my four kids in three different childcares because it’s just so hard to find,” she said. “It takes 40 minutes for us to drive in a circle to drop them off in Kasson and Mantorville, so once we have more families, that is great, but where are we going to have childcare for all those kiddos that are coming here.”

This isn’t the first time a project like this has come to Kasson.

The same developer brought a very similar plan before the city back in April, though with fewer total units on a larger plot of land.

That plan was tabled by the Planning and Zoning Board, and ultimately pulled by the developer.

“I think everyone in the neighborhood was very upset,” said Sokolowski. “They’re like, ‘If it didn’t pass there, why do you think they can put it over here in a smaller area?'”

Sokolowski even organized a petition to garner support for her, Smith, and other resident’s efforts in halting the plans.

The petition garnered over 200 signatures before Monday’s meeting.

ABC 6 also reached out to the City Administrator ahead of the meeting, but did not receive a response.