Best use of land not considered

The County is contemplating selling a piece of land on Lark Avenue to a redi-mix cement company… big mistake, in fact bigger than big colossal. This is wrong for several reasons. Pictured above: Land near Lark Avenue in Cerro Gordo county that county supervisors will consider selling at their next meeting, on July 5th. Op-ed from Peter J. children.|(Op-ed from Peter J. Children)

The County is contemplating selling a piece of land on Lark Avenue to a redi-mix cement company… big mistake, in fact bigger than big colossal. This is wrong for several reasons.

(1) lack of future consideration in furthering the development of the area. This land in question sits on the precipice of the Indian Head commercial park development. You are all aware of just which stores are located there; several nationally known brands are among those that have invested in the complex. To now facilitate a redi-mix company there would almost constitute a crime.

(2) Everyone who lives in this area is more than aware that the big push in the last two decades has been to the West, I am certain that fact has not been lost on the County Board of Supervisors…at least I hope not. There are millions of dollars at stake here, not only in current tendency but in future development which could dwarf the current Indian Head complex. The highway between Mason City and Clear Lake is one of the most heavily traveled roads in the entire state of Iowa….and a block off this road, on Lark Avenue these people are considering a industrial venture that could be visually toxic to the point of absurdity.

The fact that the law enforcement center is already there is not that much of a deterrent, but in itself it is not a plus when considering commercial expansion. At least there are no big trucks rolling in and out all day long. Don’t these people know that there is an Industrial Park in this city that could saccomodate these people who sell concrete? Let me ask you this; if they cannot get the land on Lark Avenue, what are they going to do….maybe move to New Jersey? I don’t think so.

(3) What’s really at stake here is polluting any chance of future retail development anywhere within sight of that tower that spews concrete into those mammoth trucks that will tear up Lake Avenue within a year of driving on it…and that will be cheap compared to the loss of jobs and tax revenue that could be harvested from those acres.

(4) True land value; the people who run the Clarion Inn were prepared to pay the country $600,000.00 for two acres of land that ran along the front of the current Fair Grounds..

Now a mile to the West and a half block off the road they are thinking of selling several acres for something like $15,000.00 an acre. These people, the supervisors are suppose to know what good for the county, but I have strong doubts about that. What should be done, should have been done years ago. Sell off the current Fair Grounds, the land it sits on is far too expensive for it’s current use. Relocate that operation somewhere else on land they own, but not across from the law complex….then partner with the city on a new facility that could become an all purpose center to fit the needs of this area. Use the money from the sale of the current Fair Grounds and let the city bond their part and build something that would draw people from across a hundred mile radius.

(5) If you want to bring a halt to any further commercial expansion West of this city, then put in the concrete operation. This would be the death knoll for land values along that strip. Look what happened with Home Depot, they didn’t look for another spot, they looked for another city, and they found it.

Peter J. Children

Cerro Gordo county land possibly to be sold. Facing northeast from Lark Ave.