Troy councilors back staff to pursue utility plans and master studies to unlock industrial land

City of Troy staff on Feb. 19 asked the council to confirm whether it wants the city to pursue detailed planning and potential utility extensions to open roughly 966 acres in a northwest growth area for industrial use. Council members present gave unanimous support for staff to continue planning, begin the community-wide water master plan and explore options for targeted utility design.

Tim Davis, the city's development director, told the council the city lacks industrial inventory to respond to many site-selection requests. “What we're going to talk about today is a growth strategy for industrial land with utility improvements,” Davis said. He told council members the city had 122 acres of available lots in what staff calls Industrial Park North (including one parcel described as 90 acres and an adjoining 15‑acre parcel) and 57 acres in Industrial Park South (the Newman site is 40 acres of that total). Davis said demand is strong but many requests exceed available contiguous acreage.

Staff summarized 2024 site‑selection activity: 77 state/regional site‑selection projects were reviewed and the city was able to submit only about four site proposals last year because of limits in available land, Davis…