Condominium plan gets ?green light? from city

Protest from neighbors prevented Terry Lavery of Terra Homes Corporation from moving forward in May with a condominium development on 2.8 acres of land situated between Adams and Madison avenues just west of the former hospital and clinics.

Tuesday, the Fairfield City Council gave Lavery a green light on his new plan for 38 ranch-style condominiums along Walton Road, west of Prairie Lakes Subdivision.

Following the planning and zoning commission?s recommendation, the council unanimously annexed roughly 5 acres for the Amhurst condos into the city and began the process of rezoning the land from a R-1 residential district to a R-3 multi-family residential district. The zoning must be changed by ordinance and requires two more readings.

Lavery?s initial development proposal was opposed by neighbors who expressed concern about drainage, traffic and safety issues at that central location. Several said it appeared to be a nice development in the wrong place.

Lavery?s revised plans for a development on the outskirts of the city call for single- rather than two-story condos, each with two bedrooms, two bathrooms and an attached two-car garage.

The roughly 1,200 square-foot, high efficiency condos will be marketed for around $150,000. The condos will be constructed in clusters of three and four over three years, Lavery said.

During committee reports, councilman Daryn Hamilton urged the council to consider potential incentives for residential development since a moratorium has been placed on residential tax increment financing districts.

Hamilton said the water and sewer utilities committee had discussed having a city engineer design the sewer line, as well as contributing some cash to the line?s construction. Hamilton said the developer has estimated the cost of the sewer line at $55,000 ? though a city engineer has estimated the expense at $100,000.

?If we have a developer that comes to our community, and they are very, fully charged to go forward with what they?re wanting to do, and they have a really good timeline for being able to accomplish what they want to do out there, outside of TIF, we need to think a little bit creatively on how we want to help them move their projects along,? Hamilton said.

City administrator Jeff Clawson said the committee will meet again with Lavery and bring a proposal back to the council.

In other business, the council approved the employment of Ryan Kurka as a full-time driver for the Fairfield Fire Department. Kurka replaces Mike Crew, whose retirement takes effect Aug. 20.

Gary Henry and Nanette Conger were appointed to the Fairfield Public Library Board of Trustees to replace Jane Rowe and Arvin Bogaards, both of whom were recognized for longtime service to the library. Bogaards served 10 years on the board, and Rowe served 12 years, the maximum allowed.