Marengo to consider 95 new homes for Brookside Meadows subdivision

The Brookside Meadows subdivision in Marengo could see an additional 95 homes built over the next couple years as part of a new development agreement being considered by the city.

The Marengo City Council discussed and opted to move forward with the potential addition at its meeting Monday. If approved later this month, the new homes would complete the subdivision’s original plan that was pitched nearly 20 years ago, City Manager Will Stefaniuk said.

Before any work can begin, the proposal still needs to go through the city’s planning and zoning process and receive final approval from the City Council, city documents state.

The development is expected to go in front of the Planning and Zoning Commission on Monday, with the City Council set to take up the item at its June 27 meeting, Stefaniuk said.

“This would be more form-fitting for the community based on the other homes in the area,” Stefaniuk said. “The development of the property will ... overall enhance the value of the area.”

If approved, the agreement will be the third change made to the subdivision since it was originally pitched back in the mid-2000s and the first one in nearly six years.

The first one, passed in 2015, allowed 15 duplexes and three triplexes to be built, along with other zoning changes, according to city documents. The second one, in 2016, adjusted the timelines for construction.

While the developer, Ohio-based M/I Homes will not be responsible for public improvements beyond sidewalks and trees, the company will pay the city $144,000 for future street improvements in the subdivision, according to city documents. It will also pay water and sewer fees, Stefaniuk said.

Those funds will be specifically for wear and tear on the streets of the area and any other needed improvements, Stefaniuk said.

Originally created in the mid-2000s, the Brookside Meadows subdivision, which sits south of Route 20 and east of State Street, sought to create 230 units within the area. However, the economic recession in the later part of the decade put that on hold.

After a few adjustments were made to the plan, the subdivision was started back up in the mid-2010s but still has a number of plots that, while ready to be built on, are still vacant, Stefaniuk said.

For the new homes, M/I has pitched 13 unique floor plans, which will be between two to four bedrooms and range from 1,500 to 3,200 square feet in size, Stefaniuk said. Those homes would include partial basements with an option to make it a full one.

Stefaniuk said he expects the homes would be built over the course of the next two to three years.