It’s no secret that housing continues to boom in Pottawatomie County.
New home builds in 2020 were relatively on pace with previous years, according to Planning and Zoning Administrator Stephan Metzger, with an uptick particularly in non-subdivision home construction.
In 2020, 46 houses were built outside of subdivisions in the county, the highest total since at least 2000. Metzger says as urban sprawl continues, it’s important the county keep an eye out if it’s something they want to control.
“The Flush Road is a particularly prominent example of the housing that’s starting to creep a little bit farther north every year. If that’s not something we’re ok with, we need to figure out how we push that back down toward the (Hwy 24) corridor,” he said.
Blue Township far outpaced neighboring communities with 102 housing permits in 2020. Metzger says that’s not too surprising and adds there are many lots readily available to meet the demand.
“We’ve got 91 lots that you can go in and if you want you can put a house on it today, they’re ready to rumble. That’s about a year’s worth of building, which is pretty standard. We’ve got about that same amount that is just waiting to be built,” he said.
As for why more housing construction is occurring outside of subdivisions, Metzger says it may be a result of too many regulations imposed currently on subdivisions.
“And they may say why do I want to pay $60,000 for two acres when I can pay $60,000 for five acres. That may be a price dynamic people are running into,” he said.
Trailing Blue Township in housing permits in 2020 was St. George with 60. Louisville had 18 while Pottawatomie Township had 12.
The county saw more shop houses (or shouses) being developed in 2020. Commissioners each raised concerns that those developments aren’t being appropriately assessed for property taxes.
In other business Monday, the commission gave the green light for the county utilities operator to hire a part-time operator to assist him
The county’s current utilities operator is Kyle Minton who says he needs backup, and is hoping to hire a retiree with the working knowledge of stormwater management.
“I feel like there are a large number of retired utility operators in the county that want to work, even if they don’t want to work full-time. That’s what I really need is somebody that is experienced and has done this job, that knows they can get called up at 2 a.m. with somebody’s sewer backing up into their house and know how to react,” he said.
Commissioners voted 2-1 on the motion to hire, with Dee McKee preferring the county instead explore the option of a full-time assistant.
Minton says going forward, his office continues to work to educate contractors and the public about safe erosion control and stormwater management on construction sites.
