History of Stuart

Motivated residents first formed as the Stuart Area Restoration Association on November 14, 1973 due to growing concerns about the condition of the housing stock. In 1980, the City of Kalamazoo entered into contracts with several neighborhoods using Community Development Block Grant funding to hire neighborhood directors to address housing and blight. The Stuart neighborhood achieved numerous accomplishments during the long tenure of its first two neighborhood directors, including national and local recognition as a historic district. The Association acquired a house in 1995 that served as a neighborhood office and had an affordable rental unit.

Established as a 501c3, the 10-member board is presently made up of Stuart resident volunteers that represent different geographic pockets of Stuart, demographics, length of residency, and perspectives. Today, historic preservation and general housing supports still remain central to the group’s mission, while also expanding their role in supporting a range of community building activities in the neighborhood.

The organization has since rebranded as the Stuart Historic Neighborhood Association and has been a key a stakeholder and facilitator for community engagement throughout this neighborhood planning process.

OVERVIEW

The Stuart Historic Neighborhood Association initially kicked off the neighborhood planning process prior to the pandemic. This resulted in a sidewalk inventory and other engagement activities which led to the narrowing down of priority topics, including:

1. slow down traffic,

2. fix streets,

3. fix sidewalks,

4. improve lighting,

5. promote historic preservation, and

6. support Woodward school.

However, due to board turnover in 2015-2016 and the onset of COVID-19 in 2020, neighborhood planning was put on pause indefinitely.

Stuart Neighborhood Planning Process

2022 Engagement Activities

In the last eighteen months, the Association has rebuilt a full board that is more representative of the diversity of the neighborhood. The neighborhood also has had a resurgence of interest with new residents and redevelopment, the most recent being the Westgate Commons Apartments completed in 2022.

There is a renewed commitment to engaging with the City of Kalamazoo and developing a plan to guide the Association as it enters its next 50 years. The City re-engaged the neighborhood association in April 2022. With the addition of new board members and new city staff, a plan was set out to reignite the Stuart neighborhood planning process.

DRAFT PLAN PUBLIC REVIEW

The comment period for the draft of the 2023 Stuart Neighborhood Plan is now closed. Residents had the opportunity to review and provide feedback on the draft between April and May 2023.

A public Hearing is scheduled for June 1, 2023 at 7pm at the regular scheduled Planning Commission meeting at City Hall. The Planning Commission will consider city staff’s recommendation for approval of the neighborhood plan. If approved, the plan will be presented to the City Commission for consideration of adoption.