Neighbors are still opposing plans for an 8-unit apartment complex on St. Lawrence Street

City of Decorah officials met for a little over an hour Friday evening with neighbors of a proposed 8-unit apartment building on St. Lawrence Street and the contractors who want to build the units.  Petitions with the names of 25 neighbors opposing the development have been presented to City Hall.

Quandahl Investment Properties is now on its 6th revision of plans for the property.  The latest plan has garages built into the apartment complex.

But attorney Karl Knudson, who has been hired by the neighbors, says the latest proposal still fails the required parking dimensions.  "The language is pretty clear," Knudson tells decorahnews.com, going on to say the latest proposal doesn't meet city code.

Both opponents of the proposed apartment development and City Administrator Chad Bird agree that the two sides have a better understanding of the issues involved following Friday evening's meeting, however.

Now that opponents of the development have had a chance to lay out their case that the city should reject this latest version, city officials will have to determine whether to send the issue back to the Board of Adjustment to ask for a variance or send it on to the Decorah City Council, where neighbors promise they would again make their case.

City officials lately have been discussing the need for additional affordable housing in Decorah, so additional apartment space could be attractive to city council members.  However, nearby property owners would make their case that the proposed development doesn't meet the city's code for such a project.