The vacant property adjacent to the Newton school district’s transportation facility has been successfully replatted into a seven-lot residential subdivision.
Newton City Council approved the final plat of the subdivision known as Stelpflug Addition. According to city documents, the final plat reserves the east 40 feet of all seven lots, which will be dedicated as a drainage easement. When council considered reviewing the preliminary plat last year, drainage was a main concern.
Erin Chambers, director of community development, said in September 2022 that the subdivision would not negatively impact any stormwater drainage from the neighborhood. Whenever a developer adds new houses, she said those projects have to be engineered so as not to cause runoff on neighbors or cause backups.
City staff indicated in the council report that the developer has completed the required grading work at the site. The grading work will preserve a similar topography for walkout basements but will also prevent increased stormwater discharge from negatively impacting surrounding properties.
Stelpflug Addition is a replatting of six lots and an old, vacated right-of-way from the Leepers Highland Addition. The city council held a public hearing to approve the final plat and received no public comment. Notices were sent to all property owners within 200 feet of the new subdivision, which will host seven new homes.
One neighbor spoke at the previous public hearing held by the planning and zoning commission at its June 20 meeting. The individual noted concerns about utility capacity and the impacts to traffic and on-street parking in the neighborhood that would come as a result of the new homes.
The owner and developer of Stelpflug Addition, 1404 First Ave. W., is 2B Constructed Inc. of Pella. The seven lots range from 0.23 acres to 0.34 acres and extend north along West 15th Street Place North, according to designs by Oskaloosa-based engineering firm Garden & Associates.
Envision Newton 2042, the city’s comprehensive plan, encourages infill development when it comes to housing. Creating new housing on vacated parcels in existing neighborhoods “not only expands the local supply of housing but also results in a more efficient use of existing infrastructures.”
