Colfax Village Board approves changes to East View
By LeAnn R. Ralph
COLFAX — Anyone wishing to purchase a house or build a house in the East View Community Development along Dunn Street will now have more options available.
The Colfax Village Board at the December 12 meeting approved changes recommended by the Colfax Plan Commission to East View to allow the house built by Andy De Moe on Lot 6 at 302 Dunn Street to be sold as either a single lot or a lot and a half.
The village board also approved allowing twin homes to be built on Lots 1 and 2 and to allow developers who want to build multi-family homes in Phase 2 to do so now if the developer is willing to develop all five of the lots, two multi-family and three single-family.
Potential buyers are interested in having a bigger lot for De Moe’s house, said Scott Gunnufson, village president.
Marketing it “as is” on the existing lot or as a lot and a half with part of Lot 5 may make the house more attractive to potential buyers, he said.
If someone buys the house and half of Lot 5, then in the future, Lot 4 could have the other half of Lot 5, Gunnufson said.
The lots in East View are assessed at $15,000, and while the village is giving away the lots to encourage developers to build houses, if a buyer for the house on Lot 6 wants a larger lot, the buyer will be expected to purchase half of the lot.
Carey Davis, village trustee, wondered who would be responsible for paying for the survey of Lot 5 to divide it in half.
“The village does not need to spend more money,” he said.
Lynn Niggemann, village administrator-clerk-treasurer suggested selling half of Lot 5 for $10,000 to cover the cost of half of the lot and to cover the cost of surveying.
As for the twin homes, Niggemann said she has received telephone calls from village residents who are at the point in their lives when they would like to downsize and were asking when any duplexes or apartments would be available in East View.
Gunnufson said that he, too, has heard from people looking for duplexes or apartments.
Twin homes, which are duplexes owned by separate homeowners who each pay their own expenses for their half of the house, would start to fill the need for multi-family housing, he said.
East View is located in the village’s Tax Increment Financing District No. 4, and the lots are sized in such a way that when they are developed, the tax increment gained will help pay for the infrastructure necessary to develop Phase 2.
If a developer is willing to develop all of the lots in Phase 2 and to pay for installing sewer and water, then the village could give away those lots as well, Gunnufson said.
If a buyer wants half of Lot 5 to go with Lot 6, and another developer would like a larger Lot 4 so that half of Lot 5 goes with Lot 4, and Lots 1 and 2 are used for twin homes, then Lot 3 would be left as is, he noted.
If the lots end up bigger than they are now so that there is room for accessory buildings, the village also will have to consider amending the covenants to stipulate what kinds of accessory buildings are acceptable, Gunnufson said.
Lots 1 through 5 in East View are 14,000 square feet and Lot 6 is 16,000 square feet.
The Colfax Village Board unanimously approved the changes to East View.
Village Trustee Annie Schieber was absent from the meeting.
Other business
In other business, the Colfax Village Board:
• Approved contracting with Bauman Associates to conduct the 2016 audit of the village financial accounts at a cost that will range between $23,555 to $24,525.
• Approved contracting with Bauman Associates to write the 2016 annual reports for TIF 3 and TIF 4 at a cost of $1,550 to $2,050.
• Accepted a bid from Nevins Flooring to install new carpeting in the clerk’s office at a cost of $1,480.24. If carpet tile is installed, the cost would increase by $480 for floor preparation and an increase of perhaps $900 for the cost of the carpeting.