PORTAGE, Mich. — A green farm field near Sprinkle and Zylman in Portage could one day be home to a 49-unit condo development. A preliminary site plan has been turned over to the City of Portage and recently approved by city council.
Keith Gibson, who lives behind the proposed development site, talked with me about his thoughts on the condos going in, backing up to his backyard.
"I'm not opposed to it, I'm just gonna miss the privacy," Gibson said.
Gibson said between the field and nearby Ramona Park, his home was a great place to raise his family.
"You got nothing but farm field. And I get my deer to come through, blackberries in the back."
Watch: Portage neighbors react to proposed 49-unit condo development near Sprinkle and Zylman
The planned access point for the condo complex is Fireside Avenue. Sheryl Anderson has lived on that street since the 1980s, and her primary concern is increased traffic.
"The traffic. Mainly the traffic. And there are not two places to enter and leave. There's only one place, and that's up and down Fireside Avenue," Anderson said.
Anderson said she has complicated feelings about the development overall.
"I love having the condos up there, because I go out walking every day. So that's more sidewalk for me to walk on, right? Then I learned there was only going to be one way, and that was on our street. So we become the thoroughfare," Anderson said.
The 49 units represent a fraction of what the region needs. A 2025 study on housing by the Upjohn Institute found that Kalamazoo County needs to add 8,000 new housing units by 2030.
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