Economic Development Committee

Lone Rock Economic Development Committee Discussion Notes TID/TIF Planning Meeting, Wednesday, June 19, 2024 – 2:00 PM in the Village Office Conference Room, 314 E Forest St. Members Present: Tammy Christianson, Dan Quinn, Brad Seymour, Mary Litviak, Troy Maggied (Southwest Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission) and Ted Greenheck (Driftless Area Group.) Discussion points: • Housing will be the target for developing the four forest lots with six parcels per lot to start. Ted added that he will assist to making the lots sellable, shovel-ready, platted, anticipating extended infrastructure will be added eventually. He also said he has a standard developers agreement he can use in which we can set the terms. • The priority for the village is to make sewer & water available to these lots as they are developed. Recommended not to cut down the trees as part of priorities, but let that be up to the developer to do that, as they may want to keep some of the trees. • There was some discussion about modernizing the village’s zoning ordinances to allow for more flexibility for new developments, that may have modern attributes; discussed house set-back ordinances and popular builders like Skyline in Lancaster. • Ted reported that homes are tough for young people to build these days. A family needs to make about $150,000 a year to afford a new home with a 6% loan; However, there are good finance plans available that offer reasonable rates if consumers explore them. Since economic incentives for building are down, Ted recommended selling for $15,000 per lot, which will be extending a good value to prospective buyers. Ted will notify the group once the properties are posted on this website so the village can post it on their website. • The concept of ‘zero lot lines’ was discussed as being one incentive can offer new construction projects. Brad will look into getting a zero lot line sample from Alan Harvey’s office. Also suggested looking into light pollution ordinances, as well. • Troy offered a draft contract for extending SWWRPC services to help the village with economic development projects that may lie ahead like, offering project management assistance, help with re- writing zoning ordinances, Comprehensive Plan amendments, future land use map to enable new developments, special projects and more. • Mary will suggest to the River Valley Housing Coalition to hold a consumer home buying/building seminar sometime in the future that will educate developers about local opportunities and consumers about developing new homes and financing. Continued discussion on these topics and need for future SWWRPC services will be reviewed and then revisited on the agenda for the Q3 Economic Development meeting set for Tuesday, September 24, 2024 at 6 PM at the village office. Meeting was adjourned at 4:00 PM. Notes by Mary Litviak The Lone Rock Economic Development Committee is a group of community volunteers, made up of citizens, community leaders and business owners who focus on coming together to discuss ideas and make recommendations about how to make Lone Rock become a better place to live, visit and work.