Laura Young
ECB Publishing, Inc.
Mark and Sandy Vollertson of Advanced Real Estate Sales in Monticello received a green light from the Monticello City Council on Dec. 7 for their plan to locate a mobile home sales business at 1700 S. Jefferson St. (the northwest corner of the intersection of U.S. Highway 19 South and Waukeenah Highway).
The Council was provided minutes of the Nov. 22 meeting of the Monticello Local Planning Agency (LPA), which discussed the Vollertson's application without giving a recommendation. For the December Council meeting, the Vollertsons provided a response to the City of Monticello Engineering Plan Review of their site plan, which had indicated which parts of the site plan needed to be modified or clarified to ensure that it conforms to the design standards specified in city ordinances. In their written response and in-person presentation to the council, the Vollertsons provided additional details about the driveway and parking; building setbacks from property lines; erosion control measures during construction; impact of improvements on drainage flow patterns; landscaping buffers; utility connections; and installation of outdoor lighting.
At the end of the presentation, Mayor Julie Conley said, “So we have our engineer saying that it meets all of the requirements. It's an allowable use in the zoned district in which he intends to locate it, so is there any public comment?”
Audience members initiated some further conversation about lighting, noise levels and traffic flow. The Vollertsons explained that lighting would be primarily for security reasons and therefore not too bright. Noise levels would be low because this is not a manufacturing site and it is closed at night. Traffic flow would be similar to that used by Brynwood Health & Rehabilitation Center, which operates on an adjacent parcel and uses the same turn lane on U.S. 19.
Council Member Troy Avera offered some suggestions about the landscaping, and the Vollertsons expressed a shared sentiment that attractive landscaping will be important for a positive image of both the business and the city. Proceeding to a vote, with unanimous “ayes” the council gave the Vollertsons approval to take the next step in opening their mobile home sales business.
“We hope to be open in early 2022,” said Vollertson in an interview on Dec. 10. “The city approved the site plan, and now it moves forward to the permitting stage. We are looking forward to providing affordable housing as well as our expertise in this area of real estate.”