Low inventory, high demand: Clearwater officials contemplate areas for potential housing

Clearwater trustees vice chair, Cody Kester, said, during the board's Feb. 12 meeting, that village officials have been approached about possible sites to build housing.

"We've discussed maybe getting rid of the little ball field since it's in shambles right now. It's a good time to bring it back up," Kester said.

The small ball field, located at the south edge of the park, has not been used for games since summer 2022.King asked if the land would need surveyed and if it would extend south toward the dump.

Kester said he envisioned just using the small ball diamond. The village's former engineer rough sketched a cul-de-sac in that area but plans were put on the back burner.

Clearwater Community Development Group previously expressed interest in purchasing some land in that section of the park, but at the time, trustees did not want to sell the property.

Kester said he isn't in favor of selling a portion of property without a development plan in place.

"Put one lot there and don't have things organized, you kind of bottleneck or potentially landlock ourselves," Kester added.

Zwingman said the idea was broached during a downtown revitalization public meeting held last fall. He agreed to work on infrastructure costs and potential ideas for housing lots to present to the board.

"There's potential for TIF financing to pay for the infrastructure," Zwingman said.

Trustees discussed other potential development areas, included land near the tree dump and lagoon.

Trustee Marsha Hart said she would hold on to the lagoon land.

"Planning and having these phases is going to be crucial to growth," said Lauren Sheridan-Simonsen, economic development director.

Kester encouraged trustees to talk with residents about ideas for growth.