During its meeting on Tuesday, Powell City Council approved a trio of ordinances related to the Encore Park development proposed at the intersection of Case Avenue and Depot Street. Included in the ordinances were an economic development agreement, a final development plan, and appropriations related to the economic development agreement.
Proposed by Grand Communities, LLC, Encore Park will consist of 19 two-story, single-family detached homes each with a two-car garage, on approximately 2.43 acres located north of the Pup-A-Razzi Pet Salon and Nocterra Brewing Company. Included in the plan is the extension of Depot Street to the north to connect with Adventure Park Drive as recommended in the city’s Keep Powell Moving Plan, which was established in 2016.
The proposal was reviewed by the Planning and Zoning Commission as a sketch plan last August and again as a preliminary development plan in January before being recommended to City Council for approval on April 13. Before the council voted on the proposal, several concerns from neighboring residents had to be addressed by the developers, including stormwater maintenance, mitigating construction traffic, adding adequate construction signage, and providing additional screening.
Speaking on the efforts of the developer and residents to reach common ground, Mayor Daniel Swartwout lauded the collaboration as a relative rarity during his time representing the community.
“I’ve been here now almost eight years,” Swartwout said during the meeting. “I’ve seen a lot of developments, and rarely have I seen a developer and residents work so well together to come to a final product that, really, everyone had input in, and everyone worked on. … It really has been almost a model for the process, and I want to thank all of the citizens.”
City documents for the proposal praised the plan for bringing multiplicity to the residential options within Powell’s downtown while also contributing to the city’s ongoing goal of creating a more walkable community. “The homes provide an alternate housing style within the downtown and create a more walkable area by providing access from Adventure Park to downtown,” City Manager Andrew White stated in a memo to the council.
Swartwout expanded on the idea of developing a walkable community, saying, “One of the things we talk about so much is having a walkable community, and the downtown of Powell is truly a destination not just for Powell but the entire region. So having more of a walkable community where people can live here, they can shop here, they can dine here, and they can work here, all in a walkable manner in a method I think is a big win for the taxpayers of Powell, I think this project is excellent.”
Perhaps no element of the project will be more beneficial to the community than the extension of Depot Street, something that has been in the city’s plans for quite some time, Swartwout went on to say.
“That has been a priority of the city for at least almost eight years, and then with our most recent Capital Improvements Plan, that was identified, I believe, as one of our top 10 projects,” he said. “To be able to do that and identify a long-term need in the city at what is probably a significant saving to the taxpayer, that’s a tremendous win.”
Reach Dillon Davis at 740-413-0904. Follow him on Twitter @DillonDavis56.
