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Housing: What holds back West Branch from faster growth?
by Lisa McDonald · News · July 21, 2016
Though a Main Street Iowa study suggests a demand exists for housing in West Branch, obstacles in recent years stunted growth.
In response, West Branch leaders implemented solutions to overcome some of these challenges.
“We welcome more [development] than what we’ve been getting,” City Administrator Matt Muckler said. “We’d like to get back to those double digits [of houses going up each year].”
The 2013 study by Main Street Iowa showed that, on average, 11.4 percent of homes in the United States are vacant. In Iowa, that average is 8.7 percent, and in West Branch, the average is only 4.8 percent.
Despite this, only one house was built in West Branch in 2011, with the last five year’s average around five homes per year.
That’s because no new subdivisions have been approved recently, City Administrator Matt Muckler said.
“With new subdivisions you’ll see numbers like 12 or 13 [houses going up],” Muckler said. But after the initial rush, selling off the remaining lots takes longer, he said.
WB grows faster than county
Historically, West Branch witnessed regular growth. The U.S. Census shows West Branch population was 645 in 1910 and 2,300 in 2010. In comparison, Cedar County stayed fairly steady. Cedar County population was 17,800 in 1910 and 18,500 in 2010.
Cedar County Chairperson Dawn Smith said part of the reason for the slow county growth is community preference.
“A lot more people are wanting to live closer to urban areas rather than bedroom community towns,” she said.
Cedar County’s current demographics also play a role, Smith said.
“Our demographics, with them being mainly [agriculture] and an older population, you’ve got to replace that,” she said.
Cornerstone Real Estate Consultants agent Ken Fawcett described the “conflicting requirements” agriculture presents to residential development.
“You go to the environmentalists, and the best ground that will perk [absorb liquid well] for having a septic field is really nice, flat farm ground. And that’s not the kind [of land] they want you to build on,” he said.
West Branch does not experience the same agricultural obstacles as the county, since city administrators said they expect to focus on growth inside the town instead of by annexation.
“That’s where we’d love to see things happen first ... inside city limits, which [has] already been established and proven to be successful,” Mayor Roger Laughlin said.
Smith said the county approves of this inward-growth focus.
“We can either have all these little scattered [developments] or we could have bigger ones that are hooked onto the city,” Smith said. “I’m not so sure that infrastructure-wise and emergency response-wise and all of the other services that come along with it wouldn’t be better if closer to the cities.”
However, West Branch does face the demographic problem.
A 2016 Iowa School Finance Information Services study found that by 2021, West Branch Community Schools certified enrollment could drop by 4.3 percent, or 32 pupils, to 734 pupils. the West Branch area experiences growth, but not with families containing school-age children.
“I think West Branch has so many things to offer that so many communities don’t,” Cornerstone Real Estate Consultants agent Helen Fawcett said.
“We’ve got an excellent fire department and first responders, the police department. We have the Hoover Park and the library ... and the closeness to Interstate 80 ... It’s hard to know why we haven’t developed quickly, because it seems we have a lot here that other communities don’t,” Helen Fawcett said.
Response
to obstacles
Recently, the city council approved several developments to overcome some of the obstacles.
Muckler said the city council approved new sections in existing subdivisions. Lots in these areas include:
• Meadows subdivision Phase Two - 21 lots
• Lynch Heights - 12 lots
• Cookson subdivision - 7 lots
Already this year, five houses are ready to be built, with more expected, Muckler said.
The city council also took infrastructure into account when developing and passing ordinances.
Cornerstone Real Estate Consultants owner Teresa Horton said a lot of people forget the infrastructure involved.
“I think oftentimes [people] think ‘Oh, you buy a piece of land, and yeah, we can just survey [it] out and ... boom, boom, boom, we put our houses up here.’ And they don’t understand that there’s a lot of steps and ... expensive land is only a fraction of the expense,” Horton said.
One improvement project the city took on, Muckler said, was expanding the wastewater capacity for what the lift station could move from lower to higher elevations, in preparation for Meadows Phase Two and Lynch Heights.
The city council also passed last year a building incentive program, which includes perks for developers like an allowable rebate up to $5,000 and a flat fee of $500 for residential building permits.
Muckler said the incentive program came from a discussion the city council had with 25 to 30 developers. Even after only one building season, the program appears to be helping, he said.
“I’ve had some good feedback,” Muckler said. “I’ve had contractors tell me that they were building a house for a client specifically because of that [incentive].”
Laughlin said he agrees with the plans for growth, but wants to make sure West Branch does not lose its personality along the way.
“I like to maintain some sort of look of small-town feel. When you get to the apartment after apartment ... you start to lose our identity a little bit,” he said.
City leaders gave another reason for housing diversity than just aesthetics. Accounting for a variety of price ranges allows families to become move-up buyers, West Branch Public Works Department wastewater operator Paul Stagg said.
“A lot of those $300,000 Meadows houses ... are West Branch people who are moving out of an older home. Now there’s a $150,000 house where a new family can move to town,” Stagg said.
Though some may be wary of the growth, Horton said people should embrace it.
“I think people should recognize that growth is positive. It brings tax dollars in, which brings opportunities. It gives the city options, because money is options, right? ... When you have more tax dollars coming in, you can actually meet all your needs and some of the wants of the people,” Horton said.
Currently, though, based on reviews of available land around West Branch, more developments of Pedersen and Meadows size are not likely. According to the web site LandWatch, available lots over 10 acres are either marked for Highway Commercial Industrial land or directly next to the interstate.
“You have resistance of hearing all the noise all the time,” Ken Fawcett said in response to building residential housing along the interstate.
In the long run, Laughlin said the city expects more residential growth to the north, some of it outside current city limits, including north of:
• Pedersen Valley
• Sixth Street
• Cedars Edge Golf Course
Laughlin said further residential expansion east could occur as well, like Pheasant Run.
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