Hiawatha to show future plans Monday

HIAWATHA - When you want to know your future you read tea leaves or tarot cards. To glimpse Hiawatha's future check out the city's new comprehensive land-use plan.

It's a lot more detailed and more accurate than tea leaves and will be offered for public comment at 7 p.m. Monday in the City hall.

Mayor Tom Theis said it's a complete update and a “new look” at city planning done in 2002 and lightly revised in 2005.

Some 14-18 city officials, developers, business owners, residents and a consultant have been working on it at monthly meetings for more than a year, he said.

The plan looks at current land uses and identifies likely future sites for industrial, commercial, and mixed use as well as low-, medium- and high-density residential areas.

“The major events since the last plan are the annexation and the Town Square Center project,” said the mayor. The city recently annexed some 300 acres west of Interstate 380 between Tower Terrace Road and County Home Road. The City Council has approved ideas for a pedestrian-friendly commercial, entertainment and housing area along Center Point Road, currently called the Town Center Square, which is a special case in the comprehensive plan.

In a $3 million project the city plans to extend water and sewer services to the annexed area this summer. Theis said a developer has filed a proposed site development plan for 103 homes on 50 acres of the annexed area.

Community development director Mark Powers and city engineer Richard Ransom said the new land-use plan will not affect any existing structures, but will identify and classify parcels of vacant and unused land.

Following the public comments Monday, the planning committee and the consultant will “tweak” the comprehensive plan and then submit it to the city's Planning and Zoning Commission, said Ransom. Once approved by the commission, the comprehensive plan will be submitted for council approval.

The mayor, city engineer and development director emphasized the land-use plan is not set in stone, so changes can be made if they are compatible with nearby land use.