Developer asks Wyoming council to amend Rivertown Valley plan to avoid wetlands, proposes clustered homes and condo conversions

Lindsay LeBlanc, development director for Granger Group, told the Wyoming City Council at its April 13 work session that the developer needs amendments to the Rivertown Valley overall development plan approved by a court‑ordered agreement in 2018 to respond to changed wetland delineations.

LeBlanc said phase seven is essentially complete (43 lots) and that construction and closings with Century Homes will begin in the next 30 to 90 days. She told council that updated wetland mapping and a pre‑development meeting with EGLE indicated the original layout for phases eight and nine would require about 3.1 acres of wetland impact, but that Granger’s redesigned “pocket neighborhood” approach would reduce the impact to roughly 0.63 acres while retaining the same total unit count.

The proposal would compress lots into small clustered groups around shared landscape areas (a model LeBlanc described as generally 10–12 small homes per cluster, roughly 1,200–1,400 square feet each) to preserve buildable area and avoid wetland disturbance. LeBlanc said the units could be offered as rentals or as for‑sale homes if the council preferred, and that target rents for the clustered homes would be about $2,500 per month.

LeBlanc also outlined changes to the approved amenity plan, saying Granger proposes replacing a previously approved 1,000‑square‑foot clubhouse with a pavilion and playground, building a dog park, and completing tennis courts that can be striped for pickleball. She said residents were surveyed in December and that the responses supported the amenity changes. Timelines provided by Granger aimed to have tennis courts completed by mid‑May, the dog park fenced within weeks, pond clean‑out this summer, and the playground, pavilion and landscaping finished by the end of July.

On the Reserve Flats, LeBlanc said Granger plans to convert some rental units into condominiums to respond to market demand and financial considerations. She said current rents at the flats are about $2,300 and that the company aims to convert at least 15 units for sale by early July, with projected sale prices in the $345,000–$360,000 range. Vacancy at the flats was described as roughly 10 percent on average.

Several council members, and staff, raised concerns about notice and expectations for adjacent homeowners, noting that some neighboring residents had anticipated owner‑occupied single‑family homes. Council members asked that Granger directly notify nearby residents and that the city host a public hearing on any proposed changes to phases eight and nine so affected homeowners could comment before council acted on an amendment.

City staff said site‑plan review would include public notice but cautioned that waiting until site plan could leave neighbors needing to react after significant design work was complete; they recommended early notification in tandem with the formal process.

Council consensus at the end of the discussion was to ask staff to work with Granger to prepare a resolution for council consideration on most of the requested changes — amenities, pond clean‑out, facade and landscape commitments and the Reserve Flats condominium conversion — but to hold decisions on phases eight and nine pending direct resident notice and an opportunity for public comment. Staff said it would work with Granger to notify affected residents and return a resolution for the April 20 council meeting.

What happens next: Granger will provide written requests (already included in the council packet), staff will prepare a resolution for council consideration on the amenity and Reserve Flats changes, and the council asked Granger to notify surrounding residents and prepare for a public hearing on any changes to phases eight and nine.