February 8, 2007
By LAURA PIEPER
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
Developers are preparing to break ground at the Prairie Trail development following Ankeny leaders’ approval of a sewer project there.
The Ankeny City Council voted Monday to relocate a trunk sewer in the area, which includes about 1,000 acres generally located north of the Des Moines Area Community College between South Ankeny Boulevard and Southwest Irvinedale Drive.
“We are on the cusp of starting this project,” said Ted Rapp with DRA Properties, which is the developer of Prairie Trail in conjunction with the city.
The council also passed the first reading of an ordinance Monday that will establish a new planned unit development blueprint for Prairie Trail. That document, which outlines specific guidelines for how neighborhoods in the area should be developed, must be approved three times to take effect.
The Prairie Trail PUD includes a master plan, which the city and DRA Properties developed with Urban Design Associates of Pittsburgh, Pa.; as well as a pattern book UDA created that outlines the architectural designs developers will need to follow. Design standards will be included for utility placement, roads, sidewalks, trails and landscaping.
The ordinance will also establish an architectural review board that will determine the validity of each neighborhood design within Prairie Trail.
“This is a landmark kind of step for this community,” City Manager Carl Metzger said, referring to the depth of the Prairie Trail PUD. “For the next decade or two, this is going to have a tremendous impact on what we do.”
The Prairie Trail PUD will include zoning districts for residential areas, a town center, urban corridor development along major roads, and a business park south of John Deere.
“It’s been a long road” developing the PUD, Rapp said.
City officials said work began on the plan 18 months ago.
The sewer relocation project approved Monday will move a 24-inch-diameter sewer line from an area located in what will be the first phase of residential development at Prairie Trail to another location in the project that will eventually become a feeder street west of Southwest State Street.
The city received 10 bids for the sewer project, and awarded it to McAninch Corporation of Des Moines for $587,454. The engineer’s estimate for the project was $652,893.
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