Proposed condo development on East Water Street clears first hurdle

The City of Decorah Planning and Zoning Commission has given its conditional approval to a site plan for the proposed 16-unit condominium project on East Water Street planned by Decorah realtor Jayme Folkedahl.

The site plan will now be discussed at the next meeting of the Decorah City Council.

However, the site plan will also be discussed at January 4th's Board of Adjustment meeting.  That's because if the zoning of the property is changed from M-2 to R-3 (a hearing on that issue is set for January 11th), the R-3 category requires a 25-foot setback from the street--and the East Water Street condo project would not meet that standard, requiring Board of Adjustment approval of a variance.

But the Planning & Zoning Commission's 5-1 vote in favor of the site plan on Monday night avoids a month-long delay on final approval of the project.  If the Decorah City Council approves the site plan, if the Board of Adjustment approves the set-back variance and if the Planning and Zoning Commission approves the zoning change, the project could receive final approval before the end of January.