Lawsuit slows development near West Des Moines’ Grand Prairie Parkway
KENT DARR Feb 17, 2016 | 10:41 pm
2 min read time
489 wordsAll Latest News, Government Policy and Law, Real Estate and DevelopmentTake a look at the growth of West Des Moines, and the first reaction might be “westward ho.” But not so fast. A lawsuit has tempered some of that optimism, at least for the time being, in the western reaches of the city.
Developer Steven Gillotti is challenging a fee that was levied under the city’s relatively new Sugar Creek Storm Water Connection Fee District. His lawsuit, filed in October and set for trial later this year, is slowing development in the area.
As the name implies, the district is in the Sugar Creek watershed, an area of hilly terrain that developers and city leaders believe will see residential and commercial growth as a result of an interchange at Interstate 80 and Grand Prairie Parkway, formerly known as 105th Street.
West Des Moines has planned for an expansion of streets and other infrastructure in the area at least since 2008, and got serious about laying the infrastructure that would funnel stormwater and allow for road construction in 2013.
One way to do that and spread costs among landowners was to levy what the city called a storm water connection fee. In October 2015, the City Council settled on an assessment of $4,962 an acre that would be levied when developers submitted plans for a subdivision or obtained construction permits.
Funds generated by the fees would be used to replace aging culverts, install new culverts and build bridges. That work is effectively on hold pending the outcome of the lawsuit that was filed on behalf of the Gillotti-managed Interchange Partners LLC, which owns nearly 80 acres east of 88th Street and south of I-80.
Gillotti’s attorney, George LaMarca, challenged the assessment in a lawsuit that was filed Oct. 23, 2015, in Dallas County District Court. The suit was filed 18 days after the City Council adopted the fee.
According to the lawsuit, when the assessment district was in the planning stages, Gillotti was told that his property would not be included in the district. By the time the district was created, Interchange Partners’ land was in the district.
The lawsuit contends that West Des Moines has not identified a stormwater management problem in the district and has no plans to build stormwater management or control facilities.
West Des Moines City Attorney Richard Scieszinski said developers are being told that if they pay the assessment, the funds will be placed in an escrow account pending the outcome of the lawsuit. If Interchange Partners prevails, the money will be returned to the developers. If not, the city will use the funds for planned improvements.
As a practical matter, the lawsuit has stopped development in the area, he said.
The city decided to move forward with its plan after receiving an Iowa attorney general’s opinion that the assessment district was not unconstitutional. As an indication of problems to come, the interpretation of that opinion in 2013 was challenged by some development groups.
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