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Council reviews concept for large Spellman-area residential proposal; residents and members raise service, scale and financing concerns
Summary
Councilors reviewed a developer concept plan for the Spellman property showing roughly 131 units across duplexes, fourplexes, townhomes and single-family homes with an estimated project cost cited at $30 million; council requested more documentation and residents voiced opposition over scale and service impacts.
Councilors reviewed a conceptual submission for redevelopment of the Spellman property that includes a mix of duplexes, fourplexes, townhomes and single-family units. Staff told the council they had returned a list of engineering and infrastructure questions to the developer, including the need for a lift station and clarification about who would pay for public infrastructure.
A staff member summarized the plan’s components and the preliminary financial outline. Meeting participants said the developer had described the plan in three phases and that the developer’s materials estimated the project at approximately $30 million and up to 131 units. Council staff and engineers asked the developer for documentation to support those assumptions.
Members and residents raised multiple concerns in the discussion: the scale of the development relative to local demand, potential impacts on police and public works capacity, the risk of the city funding infrastructure while development falls short of expectations, and the use of tax-increment financing (TIF) to pay back developer infrastructure costs. Several council members said they want more detail before making any commitment; no vote or approval was taken.
During public comment, a resident (Mike) urged caution about large complexes and said he had lived in similar developments where problems followed. "I just think that big of a unit you get too many people in one spot things go south," Mike said.
Council staff said they will continue to seek detailed cost documentation from the developer and emphasized that any request for public financing or infrastructure support would require additional review and formal action.
