7B - TH 371 Alternate Alignment Zoning

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Analysis of Commercial Zoning along the TH 371 Alternate Alignment Commercial zoning along the Highway 371 Alternate Alignment would cost the City financially substantially more than it would bring in tax revenue. To develop the properties along the Alternate Alignment commercially, the most optimistic scenario would have the City enacting a substantial tax increase on all taxpayers, just to get municipal utilities to the properties. Such a move would not address issues the City has with maintaining existing infrastructure in the downtown, for which a substantial financial obligation already exists. It would also place existing businesses in the difficult position of subsidizing competing enterprises on the periphery of the City's commercial area at a time when they are undergoing the financial stress of transitioning from the economics of a through-town alignment to that of an alternate route. To protect the investments of those that have committed to City of Pequot's downtown, City policy should focus on keeping tax rates low while striving to undertake those endeavors that strengthen existing businesses and create a regulatory environment where compatible and complementary enterprises can flourish. The obligations of maintaining the current infrastructure in the downtown are daunting as it is. Maintaining these assets, while making better use of them, is critical to the long-term financial health of the City. 1A If the property along the alternate alignment is to be developed commercially, it can either be done with municipal utilities (sewer and water) or without city utilities. Both of these alternatives have been examined, with the following offered for consideration. With Municipal Utilities The Comprehensive Plan and the City's ordinances require that any property not currently zoned Commercial needs to be served by municipal utilities before the zoning would be changed. If the City is to proceed with extending municipal utilities, the City Engineer has indicated that it will cost an estimated $1,526,000 to extend the utilities across the new highway alignment. This does not include the cost to run the utilities along the corridor, but simply to get them across in order to make that possible.