David Bridges
A state board Monday signed off on Altoona’s plan to bring in a huge chunk of land that’s destined for industrial development — including a new data center.
The city development board approved a request from the city of Altoona to annex about 580 acres northwest of the city’s boundaries. The properties are near the intersection of Interstate 80 and Highway 65 and north of the sprawling complex of Meta data centers.
The land, a majority of which is owned by prominent developer LeMar Koethe, is ripe for future development. Some of it is proposed to become a data center, according to information provided at the Monday public hearing, but further details — including what company may build it — have not been announced.
Meta announced late last year it’s undergoing a seventh and final expansion of its Altoona facility to make the data center its largest in the world. Bondurant’s Amazon fulfillment center also is nearby.
“Altoona needs developable industrial land,” Frank Smith, an attorney representing Altoona, said at the hearing. He said the city has just 90 acres of land available for such development.
Under Iowa law, cities are allowed to annex land into their borders, even some of the property owners are non-consenting. Cities must follow an 80/20 rule: up to 20% of the land can be from property owners who don’t agree.
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State law discourages cities from creating irregular boundaries and prohibits “islands” of county land surrounded by cities. Bringing in all property allows cities to avoid both. And officials have said it allows cities to more efficiently provide services like water and road maintenance.
Of the 580 acres in the Altoona request, three property owners do not agree to being part of the annexation, totaling about 1.5% of the land.
One landowner, Chris Schuling, told the board he would prefer to stay in the county under county rules and regulations. He said his triangular-shaped property, where there’s a home and farmland, would not create an island if it were left out of the annexation. He argued that other communities have “notches” along their borders instead of completely straight lines.
Schuling said the only new service he’ll get from Altoona is access to a sewer line, but he’d rather stay on septic.
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Altoona officials said the city would respect Schuling’s use of his property, which would categorized by the city as agricultural, and that his taxes would actually drop by being annexed into the city.
Under Iowa law, Schuling can appeal the board’s decision to Polk County District Court within 30 days.
Chris Higgins covers the eastern suburbs for the Register. Reach him at chiggins@registermedia.com or 515-423-5146 and follow him on Twitter @chris_higgins_.
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Maya Kensington
