Decorah City council delays action on Traditions Management site plan

The Decorah City Council heard nearly one hour of testimony Monday night about the site plan for the proposed assisted living facility that Traditions Management wants to build off Serenity Drive in Decorah.

City council members felt they needed more time to study the issues involved and time for City Attorney Rick Zahasky to study a brief submitted by Decorah attorney Karl Knudson.

Knudson argued that the proposed development violates the terms of an agreement between North Iowa Properties and neighboring property owners that was reached in 2000.  That agreement allowed River Walk Condominiums to be built in exchange for dropping plans for one of the buildings and reducing the size of another.

Knudson also argued that terms of agreement reached on the original subdivision plat also would be violated by the development.

But the argument that seemed to gain the most traction with city council members was the one made by neighbors that the development was "not in harmony with the neighborhood."

Traditions Management Vice President of Development Bernie Fry argued that the site plan being submitted to the Decorah City Council "hasn't changed at all from the site plan submitted two years ago--a site plan that wasn't used, so Traditions has to resubmit the site plan.

Zahasky will miss the next city council meeting on November 15th, so city council members agreed to wait until their December 6th meeting to discuss the issue again.