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Grow Fairfield plans three phases of development for Sunrise Trail Subdivision
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
FAIRFIELD – Grow Fairfield Economic Development Association hopes to market its new Sunrise Trail Subdivision to developers next year.
Grow Fairfield announced in August of 2023 that it had acquired a 35-acre parcel of land west of Jefferson County Health Center to build a new subdivision. In the year since, the group has ironed out a more detailed picture of what that subdivision will look like. Grow Fairfield Director Ed Malloy said the initial vision called for about 50 lots, but the group now seeks to accommodate 70 units by making them a little denser.
The plan is to develop the land in three phases. The first phase will consist of creating 33 lots just south of the Cambridge Little Achievers Center on Libertyville Road. The lots will be about 60 feet by 120 feet. Grow Fairfield will partner with the child care center to build a new 40-car parking lot on its south side. Phase I will consist of a loop, with a few lots set aside in the center of the loop for green space.
“A green space will break up the monotony and give a little bit more character to the neighborhood, even if it’s small,” Malloy said.
Malloy said Grow Fairfield plans to partner with the City of Fairfield to create a Tax Increment Financing district to pay for the infrastructure such as roads, water and sewer. He said the lots in Phase I will likely be single-family units since there seems to be a demand for those. Grow Fairfield hopes to connect the subdivision to the Fairfield Loop Trail in two places.
Grow Fairfield plans to let the project to developers next spring, and Malloy said it will take about three years to complete Phase I. He expects each phase to take two or three years, and for the second and third phases to offer larger lots.
Fairfield City Engineer and Public Works Director Melanie Carlson said they don’t know yet if they’ll need to move a lot of dirt in the subdivision. She said the area closest to Libertyville Road is very flat, but that the area farther south drops off, so it could be ideal for homes with a walk-out basement.
Carlson said that the plan to make Phase 1 “denser” than originally planned should not scare residents, since the lot sizes will still be typical of most housing in Fairfield.
Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com
