Swayed by the opposition of Fire Tree subdivision residents, the Baldwin City Council voted Monday to send back to the planning commission a rezoning request that would have allowed construction of duplexes in the north end of the neighborhood.

The request was to change the current R1 single-family home zoning on property at 700 Ridge Lane to R2, which would allow construction of two-unit connected-roof duplexes. Just a week ago, the council voted 5-0 to approve the Baldwin City Planning Commission’s recommendation the rezoning be approved.

By state statute, the council could only consider the rezoning request without consideration of development proposals for the property. However, future plans were revealed during a following request from the developer, Andrew Danner of North Star Housing, for the council’s support of an application to the state for tax credits to help finance what he said would be 15 total duplexes with 29 units and a clubhouse.

Lighthouse Baptist Church owns the triangular piece of property wedged between Ridge Lane and North 400 Road, but has an agreement to sell it to North Star contingent on its rezoning.

No one spoke at a Jan. 25 public hearing when the first reading of the rezoning was considered. That changed Monday as seven Fire Tree residents stepped to the microphone to oppose the building of duplexes in their neighborhood. The residents said the rezoning would negatively affect their property values, change its character and esthetics and add traffic to streets. They all said they were told when they brought their lots that the remaining phases of Fire Tree development would be exclusively single-family homes.

The opposition was enough to change the votes of council members Steve Bauer, Christi Darnell and Kathy Gerstner, who all voted against approving the planning commission’s recommendation.

“We didn’t have public here at the last meeting,” Darnell said. “What people who live in that community think matters considerably.”

The vote did not kill the rezoning because state statute requires a “supermajority” council vote of 4-1 to override a planning commission recommendation. Because there were neither enough council votes to approve nor override the recommendation, the only remaining option was to send the matter back to the planning commission for reconsideration, citing the duplex development as being out of character with and detrimental to the neighborhood, which was defined as being that part of Fire Tree north and west of Firetree Avenue and Flame Way.

Immediately after that vote, the council voted 4-1 to support North Star Housing’s application for affordable housing tax credits from the Kansas Housing Resource Corporation to help finance the duplex project.

Danner told the council that same housing program was used to construct the duplexes on the south entrance to Fire Tree. Their existence indicated duplexes were compatible with the subdivision, he said.

“This is not something new,” he said. “This has been part of that neighborhood since the beginning. I don’t think any of you would argue Baldwin needs this kind of housing.”

Bauer voted against the resolution, saying it would harm Flint Hills Holding’s application for the tax credit program to help convert the old middle school into apartments. The council voted Jan. 25 to support that application.

With the vote of support, Danner told the council he intended to continue to pursue the duplex project.

“I look forward to going back before your planning commission and coming back before you again,” he said.