(Spirit Lake)– The city of Spirit Lake is making another attempt at annexing some land just west of the existing city limits. The land is just west of Indian Hills and is known as the Smith property. There is a gap between the area proposed for annexation and the existing city limits. The city had earlier proposed connecting the two with a 10 foot wide strip along Highway 9. The City Development Board in Des Moines, which oversees annexation requests, rejected that. City Attorney/Administrator Gregg Owens says he feels this new proposal will address the board’s concerns…
“At their meeting we were at the last time, even though the Iowa Code doesn’t require it, their unwritten requirement is if you’re going to have a connecting strip of land that it be at least 50 feet wide all the way across, and so we’ve taken that, I call it advice for lack of a better word, to heart, and so we meet that requirement now. We’ll be down at the City Development Board the second week of December and I’m optimistic.”
Owens says a residential development is being proposed for that area…
“We’ve been approached by Lee Seeman. He’s considering building a single family residential housing development on that property. I’m not exactly sure the dimensions of the Smith property, I think it’s somewhere between 30 and 40 acres, and so that’s the idea there. That would be consistent with the city’s future plan as it would annex out in that direction if it ever happened. And as most of know, the entire area still seems to need and is responding to the need for more housing, so. I’m excited that the fact that the entire area is growing is driving a possible future project.”
The Spirit Lake City Council Tuesday evening held a public hearing on the new annexation proposal which drew no written or verbal comments.
