MITCHELL — The Mitchell City Council will consider approving a Tax Increment Financing District on Monday that would help fund a local contractor’s 13-lot housing development near Lakeview Golf Course.
Caleb Koerner, a Mitchell developer and owner of Pro Contracting, is seeking to utilize the TIF for his plan to build 13 town homes on a piece of land along the corner of North Ohlman Street and Sharpstone Drive.
According to City Attorney Justin Johnson’s memo to the council, the TIF will be used to fund infrastructure work needed for the small-scale housing development to materialize. The TIF is eligible to fund a little over $1 million in project costs, which Johnson explained would allow the price of the homes to be more affordable.
The increase in property taxes from new construction of homes within the TIF boundaries is referred to as the “tax increment,” which the city would pass on to the developer as it generates over a 20-year window.
The small-scale development would bring 13 homes to a plot of land along the corner of North Ohlman Street and Sharpstone Drive, next to a row of town homes near the Lakeview Golf Course.
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“Our goal is to build 13 single-family homes. We think they would be good homes for someone who is maybe looking to downsize and be easier to take care of,” Koerner said at a recent council meeting.
According to Koerner, the majority of the homes within the proposed subdivision would be roughly 1,000 square feet. Designs of the proposed subdivision show the lots will range in size from 7,000 square feet to roughly 10,000 square feet.
Plans also call for building a street in the center of the subdivision that would connect to North Ohlman Street and Sharpstone Drive, which Koerner said he would be funding on his own at no cost to nearby residents. That means the project will not have any special assessments that nearby homeowners would be asked to pay for future improvements unlike some other Mitchell housing developments in the past.
According to City Planner Mark Jenniges, the new street proposed for the center of the development would be privately owned and maintained by the Homeowners Association (HOA). That means the future residents who reside in the subdivision would be responsible for maintaining the street.
“It’s going to be a little narrower street than normal. Sidewalks would be abutting the street,” Jenniges said during an August meeting when the project plans were first presented. “It will not be a city street.”
While the project is inching closer to launching, the development has been met with some mixed support among nearby residents.
Larry Sexton, a local contractor who supports the development, wrote in his letter submitted to the city that it’s an “excellent project” and is “much needed.”
On the other side of the spectrum, Penny Virchow, a resident residing near the proposed development, has voiced her concerns at recent council meetings about the impact the project could have on drainage for existing residents in the area.
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City officials have emphasized that Koerner is required to submit drainage plans to the city, which are reviewed by city officials.
The land has already been rezoned into a Planned Unit Development (PUD) district to make way for the development.
If the council approves the tif, the developer will have a 20-year window to pay it off.
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