City has 23 parcels in two subdivisions

By Angie Landsverk

The city of Waupaca has a plan to market the vacant lots it acquired in two subdivisions after the developers failed to meet their development targets.

The common council approved the marketing plan for the residential lots by a vote of 10-0 when it met on Jan. 16.

The plan is for the 20 lots the city now owns in Woodland Park Estates Subdivision and the three lots it now owns in Buffalo Ridge Subdivision.

The 23 lots were transferred to the city as part of settlement agreements.

Last September, the council approved an agreement with Jerry Lyons related to vacant lots in Woodland Park Estates Subdivision.

Two months later, it approved an agreement with Ken Vergauwen related to vacant lots in Buffalo Ridge Subdivision.

In both cases, the city negotiated the agreements due to unpaid special assessments and back taxes on the lots.

It also did so to stop the properties from going into tax foreclosure.

“The goal is to bring new homes into the community,” said Brennan Kane, the city’s director of community and economic development.

Selling the lots will increase the city’s net new construction, he said.

It will also help recoup the remaining taxes and special assessments on them.

In Woodland Park Estates Subdivision, the target is to sell 16 of the 20 lots for new home construction and four of the lots for property expansion, Kane said.

He said there has already been inquiries from property owners in the subdivision who are interested in expanding their lots.

The lots planned for expansion of existing homesteads will be priced at $15,000 each, he said.

Lots located in the subdivisions’s first addition that are targeted for new home construction will be priced at $3,500 each.
These lots are on Woodland Circle, between Timber Drive and Honey Bear Lane.

The lots targeted for new home construction that are located in the subdivision’s second addition will be priced at $7,000 each.

Some of these lots are on Sunset Drive and others on Woodland Circle.

In Buffalo Ridge Subdivision, all three of the city’s lots are targeted for new home construction and will be priced at $3,500 each.

There are design standards and covenants in both subdivisions.