City leaders deserve hearty congratulations for their unanimous vote at Monday’s council meeting to extend a new road onto what had been Cedarbrook Golf Course. This clears the way for developer Gabe Woodman of Merak Development to build a series of duplex apartments there.
With a projected cost of $1.3 million that also includes expanding utilities to the land, this is a major investment by the city. Council members rightly expressed concern over the price tag.
But housing is on the tip of everyone’s tongue in rural America, and as the council debated Mr. Woodman’s proposal, the question quickly evolved from how the city could afford completing the road extension to how it could afford not to. As Mayor Steve French said, “Nobody is knocking on our door to build. If the city walks away, we may not get another opportunity for some time.”
Iola’s housing stock is too old and rent is too high. Local industry leaders lament a shallow labor pool as jobs stay unfilled and their companies remain unable to shift into a higher gear.
New duplexes in north Iola and south of G&W will address these issues, adding much needed slack into the market and rejuvenating Iola’s housing stock. Future residents will shop in town, eat at local restaurants, pay taxes and perhaps even send their children to Iola’s new elementary school.
The alternative — a principled but inflexible approach to rural development — would mean those things would have to wait. Iola is losing too many people and demolishing too many homes to wait.
Looking forward, there is much work to be done in the promising Cedarbrook Third Addition. We find Councilman Mark Peter’s suggestion of a feasibility study regarding the extension of Cottonwood to Oregon Road of great interest. The Cedarbrook area can certainly accommodate more homes than what Woodman plans to build.
And, while still mostly in the planning stages, Cedarbrook Park is taking shape. The project, a worthwhile collaboration between Thrive Allen County and the city, would offer green space and walking trails in the neighborhood around a pond, which Kansas Wildlife and Parks has already stocked. The park would entice developers and count as one more recreational opportunity for area residents young and old.
Hats off, Iola City Council. This week’s decision was an important step in the right direction.
— Tim Stauffer
