UP-owned farmland partially rezoned

WASHINGTON — City officials last week approved a rezoning request from the United Presbyterian Home, setting the stage for the retirement community to sell a handful of lots along Adams Street.

The move means the property won’t be used for independent-living cottages, as many of the homes surrounding the UP Home campus are.

City Administrator Joe Gaa said at last week’s council meeting the section of property would instead be sold as five undeveloped lots for single-family homes.

“The UP Home owns them now, they do not intend to do any of the building, they’ll just sell the lots,” he said. “They’re five market-rate available lots, which I always hear we have a need for.”

With the rezoning passed by unanimous council vote, officials expect to approve plats for the land at future meetings.

The lots, which line East Adams Street near South 14th Avenue, leave space for a potential road there in the future, reaching north.

As for the remainder of the 8.5 acres of farmland purchased by the home in 2021, CEO Amy Kleese said it would continue to grow crops for the time being.

“Ongoing research is being carried out by the UP Home to determine the optimal use of the remaining farmland,” she said in an email. “Until plans are established, we will continue to lease the land as farm ground.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com