Developers approach council on addressing housing hurdle

Developers hoping to add housing to the city approached the city council Tuesday to start a discussion on a problem that’s been holding back progress since last May.

Centerline Development principals Nic Alexander and Ian Turner explained their position on some city charges related to the process of developing land above the former Center School.

They said the city was asking them “basically … write a blank check” with a reimbursement agreement to pay for all un-itemized fees to that point and into the future.

Cities can incur consulting and other costs related to developments.

“This is a big deal that … is really great for the community and really ties in with what we’re doing with the school,” Alexander said.

For that separate project, a non-profit group has formed to explore turning the school into a senior living facility.

The fees for the housing project, prior notice of which had not been given as required by city code, Alexander said, so far apparently had accrued during meetings with a city planning consultant and add up to about $11,000.

“We’re trying to be reasonable, and fair as well,” Turner said. The two said they agree they’ll owe fees on the project, but their own engineers advised such fees usually start only after a state environmental review.

Alexander proposed setting a start date for the fees back to May 2, 2022.

The council will take that under consideration for the next meeting. Mayor Paul Townsend asked for more detail, including dollar figures, in writing.

Councilmember Tom Poplawski said the problem may be that the two sides are using consultants who are using different processes. “There’s no fault here,” he said. “It’s just the processes. As we find with many things that are at odds, we’ve got to figure out a way to get through them to accomplish them.”