Planning commission members, Lucas Chestnut and Bob Brame look over plans for a residential development planned for the area near the Bank of Cadiz branch on Lakoda Drive.
Grasty plans to develop an area south of Highway 68/80 and east of Lakota Drive with 35 minimal lot homes with a price of roughly $150,000 per home.
At last Thursday’s regularly scheduled meeting, the commission approved two of Grasty’s requests. The first allowed him to eliminate sidewalks from the development, given the small size of the lots. The second allowed him to build beneath county requirements for lot size to factor in septic systems. Grasty hopes that the city will annex the property to allow his development to utilize the Cadiz sewer system. The commission granted the variance, contingent on annexation by the city council.
Grasty requested a third variance at the Thursday meeting to permit a proposed homeowner’s association to maintain and mow a shallow retention basin. Current regulations stipulate that the basin belong to adjacent lots and be maintained by the owners of those lots.
Commissioner Lucas Chesnut said, “My concern is that there is not a mechanism in place to collect homeowner association fees and that it will not be able to take care of maintaining the basin.”
Chairman Paul Fourshee said that the city and county both refuse to maintain property of this nature and the subdivision needed a system to maintain the basin.
Commissioner Bob Brahame shared Chesnut’s concern about compelling the homeowner’s association to fulfill its responsibility to maintain the basin.
Grasty said that after 51 percent of the homes were sold, a homeowner’s association would be established and charged with maintaining the common area. Until that time, he said that he would maintain the common area.
Fourshee said that due to concerns with the verbiage of the plan to establish the homeowners’ association, that discussion be tabled until a Monday night special session for Grasty to solidify his plan to maintain the property.
On Monday, Grasty returned and presented a plan to establish a trust fund with $1,000 of his own money and a note of credit from the Bank of Cadiz to ensure the work would be performed. Again, when 51 percent of the lots were sold, the association would form and commence paying dues.
For the rest of this story, read this week's Cadiz Record.
