Home renovation plan sparks discussion on rentals in Holton

Plans to renovate and convert a house in Holton into a duplex sparked conversation among members of the Holton City Commission about what property owners are — or could be — doing to solve the problem of available rental housing in the city.

During the commission’s regular meeting on Monday, commissioners approved an ordinance changing the zoning on an existing house at 727 New Jersey Ave. from R-1 (single-family residential) to R-2 (two-family residential) after the house’s owners met with the owners to discuss plans to renovate the house and convert it into a duplex.

Lhoran and Suzanne Burr, representing BB Brothers Properties L.L.C. of Hiawatha, discussed with commissioners their plans to renovate the two-story house into a duplex after bringing it up to city code. The Burrs’ plan had previously received approval from the Holton Planning Commission, which recommended the plan to city commissioners for approval.

Holton Codes Enforcement Officer Jeff Draper said the Burrs “have a plan to get ahead” of issues with the house, which was built in 1902 and last remodeled in 1952, according to Jackson County land parcel records.

“This has been a property that’s needed work for a long time,” Draper said. “Now we’re getting someone who has the initiative and the means to get that work done.”

But as commissioner Eric Bjelland noted, there are other properties in the city that need someone to purchase them and give them the work that the Burrs are willing to put into the house on New Jersey in order to alleviate issues with available rentals and make Holton look “like a town with a pulse that cares about itself.”

Holton City Manager Teresa Riley noted that about half the houses in Holton are rental properties, but noted that even with the amount of rentals in the city, “we don’t have enough… People are always looking, and there’s nothing available.”

Bjelland noted that there are some property owners who own “multiple homes” in Holton, some of which are in need of renovation in order to alleviate the problem of available rental houses. Some of those property owners, he added, should be contacted about “selling these properties to someone who could do something to improve our community instead of being a cardholder with no purpose.”

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