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Residents say SB 258 feasibility studies leave out roads, sewer and schools
Summary
At a Wallsburg meeting residents and lawmakers said SB 258's feasibility test focuses on short-term financial metrics and omits transportation, schools and water infrastructure; attendees warned costs will fall to counties and towns if developers do not fund improvements.
Multiple residents told lawmakers that the statute's feasibility process measures only projected revenues against short-term costs and does not require a concrete plan or funding commitment for roads, sewer, schools or firefighting access. A resident said those omissions make the process inadequate for remote or wildland-urban-interface locations.
"They don't have to include the cost for the infrastructure, for the roads, the water, the sewer," one resident said. Organizers and lawmakers at the meeting pointed to Hideout as an example where narrow roads and limited access have made local service delivery difficult.
At the meeting a moderator noted that the lieutenant governor's feasibility review is narrowly focused and that the 10% affordable-housing commitment in the statute is primarily an intent on paper without routine verification. Lawmakers and attendees recommended collecting feasibility applications and municipal maps to check distances to town boundaries, and exploring annexation or other legal options to address infrastructure gaps.
