The Marthasville Board of Aldermen approved a preliminary plat July 15 for The Orchards Plat 2, a continuation of a subdivision started three decades ago by a different developer.
“We’re basically using the same concept and extending that on,” said Bart Korman with Lewis-Bade Inc. Professional Land Surveyors & Engineers.
The preliminary plat includes an extension of Three Street to the north along with 18 lots, which are all planned to be minimum 1,200-square-foot single-family homes with minimum two-car garages.
While the homes in The Orchards Plat 2 will be located in a relatively small portion of what is currently the Happy Apples Orchard, Korman said the Happy Apples owners plan to eventually subdivide the whole orchard property.
Noting that the first phase of The Orchards development began in 1996, city officials stressed the importance of connecting streets within the subdivision to existing streets. That way, they said, traffic issues can be avoided if development doesn’t proceed as quickly as those selling the lots are hoping for.
“Developments get started, there’s been a few different developers come in, they start and stop, and we still have dead ends and loose ends,” said Alderman Nick Lange.
Alderman Chris DeVore said building 18 more houses on Three Street in addition to the six built as part of The Orchards Plat 1 will bring significant vehicle traffic, which could become a problem.
“I personally know the traffic on Three Street right now is sometimes a nightmare,” he said.
The developers of The Orchards Plat 2 agreed to build a wider street — 40 feet wide with a 50-foot right-of-way instead of 35 feet wide with a 40-foot right-of-way they originally planned — to meet city requirements.
The plat also includes a stub to allow a future street to be built going west off of the planned extension of Three Street.
The discussion turned to future development of the apple orchard property beyond Plat 2 and the possibility of converting what is currently a private road running along the north side of the orchard into a route to access the subdivision.
“To me, that would make a good ingress and egress to Highway O,” said Mayor David Lange.
The preliminary plat for The Orchards Plat 2 was approved by a 3-0 vote. Alderman Gary Dixon was absent.
