Last year the city should pursue in2011, let's see if any of them came true (Doug's original resolution idea comes first and Steven Bartholow's comments are in italics):
• To do everything possible to start getting move-up housing built in our town, in order to stem the flow of young families needing a bigger home at a reasonable price fleeing elsewhere to live and grow.
No large housing projects were started in 2011, but new homes that could be considered "move-up" housing are consistently being built. According to Building Velocity, six percent of the homes built countywide in the month of October were built in Santee (see more local construction reports here).
• To try to settle, once and for all, whether or not here in town- and, if it does, get Walmart to the table and lay down the strict rules about what the giant retailer can and cannot do- like keeping the neighborhood right behind the current store awake all night unloading trucks.
The expansion seemed until Nov., when a , which has begun the process for expansion approval (this does not mean it will be approved).
“We’ll probably draft environmental impact report ready after the first of the year," Associate City Planner Angela Reeder said. "It’ll then go through the public review process for 45 days, as the law calls for. After that, we’ll have to see what happens.”
The issue of is still up in the air, and some City Council opposition exists, though he is in favor.
• To shift into high gear the recruitment of companies to open operations in the , now that the .
We've been told for decades that the 52 will drastically increase the opportunities for more corporate business, more retail business, more everything for Santee- now it's time to see something happening.
A was laid out in at a council meeting in the fall of 2011 which includes 190 apartments on the 6.7 acre plot, which could be up to a five story building and 28 units-per-acre density. This area would be mixed-use with theater, office and residential components.
The city is also seriously considering allowing a to develop on the 12 acre parcel, including classrooms, possible student housing, an athletic complex.
The council decided the proposal and concepts should move forward, with updates as the proposed development changes.
• To see if and Councilman are correct in their belief that Santee could actually profit from a comparatively . It's possible that it can, but it would seem to be tied to sharply increased business travel to the aforementioned Riverview Business Park.
The new hotel issue has raised its head during various city discussions of land use at Riverview or around the new SR-52 expansion and upcoming Prospect Avenue redevelopment, but nothing solid has come about.
• To kill off the grass, weeds and small bushes that seem to always grow on Mast Boulevard between Magnolia and Jeremy, and I do mean on Mast- in the middle of the street!
That might actually have to mean a total street repair on Mast- but street repairs are another column for another time- WAY too complex for just a mention.
I'm not sure if the weed issue on Mast was fixed, but Santee has completed Phase One of the ever undertaken by the city, with .
What do you think should be some of the Santee's New Year's resolutions for 2012?
