Leighton man adding new housing subdivision

By MICHAEL SCHAFFER
The Oskaloosa Herald

OSKALOOSA November 10, 2008 01:49 pm

— Farmers know what it is like to work the soil, and so does the company a Mahaska County man hired to recontour a large area of ground in the 700 block of South 11th Street.
So what is going on?
According to Oskaloosa Building Official Steve Watts, a Leighton man is in the first stages of constructing a new seven-lot housing subdivision. Watts said the plat is zoned for R-2, or urban family residential for single family, duplexes or townhouses, so that rules out a large structure, like a retirement home.
“It’ll either be duplexes or town houses or single family,” Watts said. “What is actually going to be built probably depends on the people that buy the lots.”
The person responsible for the exposure of the dark black soil is Alan VanWaardhuizen, who is in the process of adding up to seven new housing units. Watts added that the preliminary plat shows new sewer and water mains and a 20-foot access road.
The Oskaloosa Planning and Zoning Commission approved the preliminary plat on July 14.
Herald City Editor Michael Schaffer can be reached by email at mschaffer@oskyherald.com