The proposed Ripon Gardens II Apartment Project received the green light Tuesday.
The Ripon City Council voted 3-2 on the plan to develop a multi-family residential and commercial project west of North Ripon Road, just south of River Road.
Council members Mike Restuccia and Mark Winchell provided the no votes.
Restuccia shared the same concerns as that of the neighbors in attendance, citing safety issues and the possible traffic impact along River Road.
“With 137 units (from Ripon Gardens I phase currently under construction) and over 200 more cars expected, we’re talking traffic impact,” he said. “When we’re talking traffic, we’re talking safety.”
Winchell also wondered where children of those living at the apartments might play.
Ripon Gardens II Apartment Project will be located at 1663 N. Ripon Road. The plans call for 14 two-story apartment buildings, 112 units, 240 spaces to accommodate parking (residents and visitors), and a 1,200-square-foot club with rental office / community center / fitness center, to name a few.
Amenities also include a swimming pool, picnic area and outdoor fitness stations.
Preserving privacy with neighbors coupled with noise from the proposed luxury apartment complex had been concerns for Councilman Leo Zuber.
But John Anderson of JB Anderson Land Use Planning agreed to do away with some of the balconies and patios that face the existing neighbors.
Ripon Gardens II Apartment Project is a 10.5 acre site that was annexed into the city in the late 1990s.
Of that, four acres had to be re-zoned from community commercial to neighborhood commercial development, as requested by JKB Living on the General Plan change.
Rather than a SaveMart shopping center, the neighborhood commercial re-zone would allow for four to six tenants. A restaurant, for one, is already in the mix.
Neighbors were against a convenient store with gas pumps in that location.
Ripon Gardens II Apartment Project has been described as quality two- and three- bedroom apartments, featuring high-end features such as granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, and vaulted ceilings.
It has young professionals in mind as possible tenants, according to Johnson.
His group hopes to remedy some of the privacy concerns with neighbors by planting 10 to 12 evergreen trees as a buffer.
“Our concerns are with security and traffic,” said neighbor Dan Vogel, who indicated that the original plans called for condominiums.
Lex Cornell also came out against the project.
“It’s the wrong project in the wrong location at the wrong time,” he said during the public hearing.