The west side of Winsted may look very different in the
future, pending council action on a large residential development known
as Grass Lake Farm of Winsted.
The development plans include 159 single family homes,
to be built over two phases, with an extension of Main Avenue featured in
the plans.
The preliminary plat of the first phase received the nod
from the planning commission during its meeting last Monday.
The city council will consider the plans during its next
meeting Tuesday, Aug. 6.
Grass Lake Farm will be located south of Main Avenue and
Grass Lake Road. It is planned to be about 68 acres, said developer Mike
Crosby of Landmark Midwest.
The conditions include compliance with DNR shoreland overlay
district requirements for Grass Lake, restricting the widening of Main Avenue
to phase two, and that phase two be set as an outlot.
The development will be constructed in two phases. The
first phase will accommodate about 70 homes.
Construction will likely begin this year, but they are
unsure of exact start dates, said Engineer Richard Copy of Schoell and Madson.
The average size of a lot is 10,000 square feet, Crosby
said. Homes will range between $135,000 and $195,000, he said.
Before taking questions from the public, Copy explained
one of the first problems that needs to be resolved.
The DNR has a setback rule of 1,000 feet from Grass Lake’s
shoreline, Copy said.
The exact shoreline has not yet been determined due to
the wet weather, he said. He was informed of the DNR setbacks only as recently
as July 26, three days before the planning meeting, he said.
Any lots that fall within the 1,000 feet of the shoreline
must be 20,000 square feet, according to the DNR, Copy said.
The setback affects the majority of the second phase of
the development, Copy said.
He showed a diagram of the development, with phase one
in color, phase one in black and white, with a red dotted line where the
estimated shoreline setback was. Copy used a survey done several years ago
to get an idea where the Grass Lake’s shoreline may be, he said.
He hopes to have a survey done sometime this week, weather
permitting, he said.
The dotted line did interject into a small section of phase
one, which affected about eight lots.
If the setback ordinance does fall into phase one after
the survey is conducted, those lots will need to be increased to 20,000
square feet, which would either require taking out a few lots to accommodate
the larger lots, or to expand west into phase two, Copy said.
If the shoreline setbacks end up cutting further inward
in phase one, “it would be back to square one,” Copy said.
The issue that caused concern for many residents was the
suggestion of abandoning Grass Lake Road west of the city limits and incorporating
it into phase two.
Winsted Township and the City of Winsted each is responsible
for half of Grass Lake Road.
Phase one and two both feature extensions of Main Avenue.
The plan was to make Main Avenue a 40-foot wide, nine-ton
road. Grass Lake Road would be a 32-foot, seven ton road.
However, residents had a different suggestion.
One man pointed out that Main Avenue is undergoing construction
to make it a nine ton road.
“Why have two nine ton roads parallel to each other
and only a few blocks apart?” he asked.
A suggestion was made to make Grass Lake Road and the west
half of Main Avenue in phase two a nine ton road instead.
The nine tons would allow farming and commercial vehicles
to drive through the development if necessary.
Brent and Barbara Schank are concerned about accessibility
to their property located on the corner of Grass Lake Road.
The Schanks asked the planning commission to table a decision
until issues are dealt with.
“How’s it going to impact us?” Brent Schank asked.
“Abandoning the road benefits the city and the developer,”
Schank said. “We want our property to benefit also.”
“We want to be considered in this process,” he
said.
“Nobody will be without a road,” Mayor Don Guggemos
said.
Economically it is cheaper to build a new road than it
is to repair it, Guggemos said in reference to abandoning the gravel road
and putting a new Grass Lake Road in the development.
The city council decides if any road can be abandoned,
Guggemos said. If that were to happen, people living on that road would
have to be notified and there would be a public hearing, he said.
“We will work with you,” Copy told the Schanks.
“Nothing with Grass Lake Road would happen until phase two.”
Other features in Grass Lake Farm include a three and a
half acre park dedication and three wetlands, which will total about four
acres.
Storm sewer water will collect in holding ponds located
throughout the development, and from there drain into the wetlands, which
eventually drain into Grass Lake.
Storm water runoff has always drained into the lake, Copy
said. “It will now just be in a more controlled manner.”
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