Installation of amenities lags at the Glen at Stonegate
By Ed Nadolski
Editor in Chief
In the current housing market with lot sales lagging, just when is it best for a municipality to require a developer to install final enhancements to a subdivision?
That is the questions members of the City Council are expected to answer Tuesday when they meet to determine the fate of the Glen at Stonegate – a housing development immediately northeast of Walmart.
At stake is whether the developer should be required to install sidewalks, parkway trees, a water main loop and a final course of street pavement now or sometime in the future.
“This is not an easy question with these subdivisions – what do you do when things don’t get finished?” asked City Administrator Kevin Lahner. “The residents that are there deserve the amenities that have been promised.”
The current owner of the subdivision, M&I Bank, has asked the city to extend a deadline to install the aforementioned amenities to Oct. 31 of this year.
Complicating the issue in this instance is the fact that most of the lots remain unsold and the young trees, new sidewalks and fresh asphalt could be damaged by the heavy equipment brought in to build homes on the remaining lots.
Alderman Tom Vos reminded his counterparts that once the final amenities are installed, the responsibility for their maintenance then falls on the city rather than the developer.
Lahner said the city could withhold a portion of the letter of credit extended by the developer to address such issues.
However, Mayor Bob Miller urged the council to strike a compromise that acknowledges the difficulty of selling lots in the current economy and the need to complete the work for the benefit of those homeowners who have already settled in.
As part of the original agreement, the developer was required to install the parkway trees and sidewalks by before the end of 2007. Those deadlines were extended by the city in 2008.
Things became complicated, however, when the economy went south and the original developer defaulted on the project. Ownership was eventually turned over to M&I Bank, which is seeking the latest delay until Oct. 31 of this year.
Miller recommended that the city require M&I to install the water main loop as soon as possible since it won’t be damaged by any further construction of lots.
He also agreed with the recommendation of city staff that the deadline for the trees, sidewalks and final paving be extended to Oct. 31.
The council is scheduled to take up the matter Tuesday at its regular meeting beginning at 6:30 p.m.
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