The Town of Culver touched based Tuesday night on their plans to develop entry-level housing in the community.
For about one year, the Town has been working through committee to survey the needs of major employers and set goals for attracting young and skilled workers. Identifying property for development has also been part of those efforts.
Town Manager Jonathan Leist says there are still some steps that need to be followed before construction begins.
“It has to be properly zone and the Town has to approve a tax abatement for the apartments, the residential would not apply, and we would need a revitalization plan for the area to be adopted,” says Leist.
Those steps are just to apply for a state grant. About $200-thousand is prepared to be spent to extend utilities to the site from the Culver Redevelopment Commission.
The Town’s aim is to annex the selected property prior to bringing the services to the space. Right now, the developer with the most attractive proposal intends to construct an apartment building containing as many as 35 units or so. Single family housing is also planned to be included in the site plan. The site contains 26 acres in total, allowing for additional apartments or retail development.
By holding consistent work sessions on the project throughout the year, the Town of Culver hopes to have plans in place prior to applying for that state grant. Town Council President Ginny Bess Munroe says they wanted to slow the process down to meet a few requirements.
“We didn’t have everything taken care of that you need to get done for that application – which puts pressure on the builder and us and various entities that have to sign off on various pieces of it,” says Munroe. “But we wanted to make sure we’re satisfying as many needs as we can when we do it.”
The Town Council said the need for high quality and affordable housing for new teachers and employees of their major employers should have been taken up years ago.
Culver’s next step is to review the site plan and offer comments on the number of units, their quality, and potential green space. Another work session is planned for next month.
