Commissioner: ‘We’re All Dressed Up With No Place To Go’

After , developer Ron Clark Construction & Design is going back to the drawing board.

“We want to submit an application that the city and community will support,” Jim Susag, land use counsel for the developer, said. “After last week’s meeting we found that we didn’t have the critical support from the city and [that’s why we withdrew the application].”

Susag assured city officials the developer was working diligently on coming up with a new plan and hoped to resubmit applications next week. Susag also addressed officials’ concerns regarding the .

“Has there been changes to this plan since 2009 to where we stand today in 2012? Absolutely. … And we aren’t saying otherwise,” Susag said. “That’s very typical. We are trying to make sure that we have that critical support. We’re going to work hard on [making a plan to get that support] and get back to the city very, very quickly.”

Currently, the city has an agreement with Ron Clark Construction & Design to not sell the property nor discuss development with other developers, which is effective until Feb. 16, 2012. However, the Richfield Housing and Redevelopment Authority can terminate the agreement if it feels the developer isn’t working diligently to propel the project forward—which Commissioner Steven Quam brought up.

“Here we’re all dressed up with no place to go because the application has been withdrawn,” Quam said.

While Quam said he wasn’t prepared to present a motion to consider terminating the agreement, he said if the developer pulled the next round of applications, he would.

The next step for city officials will be determined after the new applications are submitted. There is a 60-day review period that allows applications to make it through the appropriate commissions, while also having time to call and properly announce a public hearing before an official vote is taken. The 60-day period stopped when the applications were pulled and will start over completely when the new applications are submitted.

said the old application requesting to , wasn’t a smart option now.

“All I can say, is that that ain’t gonna to fly anymore and I hope and think you understand that,” he said. “I was so supportive of you when you wanted to come here and bring those townhomes. I think you should look at getting back to that.”

Susag said the developer was still looking at rental units, however, it aimed to make use of the land in the best way possible. Going forward, Susag also said the developer would be very direct with city officials and address all issues that have surfaced, such as the fear of a rise in crime and a decline in property values.