About 35 rural lots northeast of Carr’s Cove could be on the market within a year or two.
The parcels, each between one and three acres, would be sold as part of the new Mount Riley subdivision, about 450 acres of rural mixed-use land that the borough has been planning to develop since October 2020. Dozens of more lots in the area would go on sale in later phases.
Borough planner Dave Long said he hopes to move ahead quickly with the development to help with the borough’s housing crunch and meet demand for affordable land.
“I kind of want to get our ducks lined up to be out there on the ground (doing survey work) this spring if we can,” Long said at a Feb. 10 planning commission meeting.
Borough staff and officials still have much to decide about the subdivision — not only exactly where to draw property lines but also whether to install utilities and how many roads to build.
Long said the tentative idea, which is subject to change, is to build roads and power lines but not to extend water and sewer, which cost more than $300 per linear foot to install and currently end more than a mile away. “I think we’re going to find the cost (for water and sewer) is probably prohibitive,” Long said, noting also that the borough’s comprehensive plan aimed for much of the area to be rural — meaning larger lots without water and sewer.
“There’s a reason why water and sewer lines don’t extend down Small Tracts and lower Mud Bay Road. It’s just too expensive. Especially the sewer, having to pump it up over the hill and back to the treatment plant,” commissioner Rob Goldberg said.
Long said if the borough decides not to extend water and sewer initially, residents could create an LID, or local improvement district, and decide to chip in to bring utilities to the neighborhood.
The borough assembly allocated $100,000 in this year’s budget for conceptual design and survey work. More money will be required to construct roads and bring the lots to market, but once the properties have been sold and developed, they’ll add to the borough’s property tax base. For example, 36 lots assessed at about $100,000 each (once developed) and taxed at the current 10.91 mill rate would yield about $40,000 in annual property tax revenue.
Before proceeding with phase two of the projects — more lots to the north of phase one — the borough needs to acquire a 20-acre entitlement from the state. Long said the state has already approved the conveyance but he isn’t sure when ownership will be transferred.
The Mount Riley project is still in its early stages, and the planning commission and borough assembly will have several opportunities in the coming months to review plans and make adjustments.
Once the borough contracts with an engineer to survey the property, the planning commission will review a formal conceptual (35%) plan — likely in late spring or early summer, Long said.
In other news, the planning commission approved 35% plans for Cathedral View and Beach roads disaster repair projects. That work will be reimbursed by FEMA.