NYM EDA recommends rezoning six Countryview properties
News | Published on February 24, 2021 at 5:16pm GMT+0000 | Author: Chad Koenen
0By Chad Koenen
Publisher
The New York Mills EDA breezed through a light agenda on Wednesday morning, but not before making making an important recommendation on the housing development Countryview.
During its regularly scheduled meeting, the NY Mills EDA recommended rezoning six lots as multi-family lots, in order to allow townhomes to be constructed on the properties. The lots that will be rezoned are on Block 6 Lots 1-3 and Block 7 lots 6-8.
The recommendation came after the Block 6 lots were recently purchased with the intent of constructing townhomes. Since the city will need to go through the rezoning process for those properties, the NY Mills EDA wanted to take a proactive approach at seeing what other properties could make sense for townhomes and rezone them at the same time. That way it can essentially kill two birds with one stone, as opposed to going through the rezoining process again in the future.
Later in the meeting, the NY Mills EDA heard from member and city councilman Latham Hetland about a meeting the city had with representatives from Otter Tail County. Hetland said the meeting went well and the county said there may be grants and ideas available to help bring down the cost of constructing a new home.
“We have lots people can build on but people are hesistant to build because building is so expensive,” he said.
Hetland said the county representatives will be bringing back some options to help spur housing in the community.
The City of NY Mills and the NY Mills EDA has long expressed a desire to expand housing in the community, citing a lack of affordable housing options in the area. The city has several lots that are being sold for as little as $1,000 apiece, plus assessments, as an option for new houses as well.
In other news
• Heard an updatre on the walking trail. The City of NY Mills is currently trying to find 17 places of importance to place the stop points for the trail.
• Heard that the city is currently looking at a survey and information it received for the future South Point Project.
• Heard an upodate on the city’s Fellowship program. As part of the program the NY Mills EDA will have a person in the community for two years to work on spurring economic development, as well as other projects for the bettermeant of the comunity. Hetland said an application for the Fellowship program has been submitted and discussions are taking place about coming up with the necessary funds to make the program come to fruition in NY Mills.