A PUD application for a development on Columbus Avenue was approved by Marysville City Council Monday night.
The developer will extend portions of Professional Parkway as needed. Once construction gets to 65 percent completion, the developer will be obligated to complete the rest.
City engineer Jeremy Hoyt told the council about an agreement the city had with the developer after concerns came up about a road extension from Columbus Avenue to Professional Parkway.
The developer has tentatively agreed to dedicate the Professional Parkway right of way to the city before the approval of the first phase of the development. Effectively, that means if the city wants to finish the road before the developer, it can start immediately.
“That gives us a lot of flexibility,” he said.
Hoyt said the developer has also agreed to dedicate $800 per lot on the development, which the city can use as a fund toward the extension of the parkway. Hoyt said the total costs of the extension would be between $1.6 million and $1.8 million.
If the city elects to build it earlier, it can increase that amount to $1,500 to help cover costs.
“It’s taken some time working with the developer, but they’ve been great and understanding,” Hoyt said. “I feel that this is about as good of an agreement as we’re going to get.”
Council member Alan Seymour asked what would stop the developer from only developing the first portion of the land and leaving the rest of the land, and the rest of the road, unfinished.
Hoyt said it’s unlikely the developer would invest so much to purchase and develop the land without following through with its plan for the entire plot.
Additionally, the income generated from each residential and commercial property will more than offset what they’ve pledged to give the city.
“Another million isn’t going to scare them away from developing the remainder of the property,” he said.
Council member Henk Berbee had expressed concern in the past for the extra strain the development could put on the local school district.
In an interview with the Journal-Tribune, he said “most of those concerns have gone away.”
He said through the course of the process, it was made clear the homes that will be built will appeal more to empty nesters, millennials and other demographics that don’t have children living with them.
“It does open up housing for (empty nesters),” he said.