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 The village of Mount Pleasant is concentrating on infill this year, including construction of a Noodles & Company on a 29-acre commercial site. |
When work begins this spring to extend sewer and water services along Highway 20 all the way to Interstate 94, it's expected to spur long-term economic development for the village of Mount Pleasant and jump-start an economic engine countywide.
"Extending sewer service to I-94 lays the infrastructure for future development," said Gordon Kacala, executive director of the Racine County Economic Development Corp.
The extension of sewer and water utilities to I-94 is the direct result of a historic intergovernmental sanitary sewer revenue-sharing agreement that the city of Racine and Mount Pleasant signed in 2002. Mount Pleasant, a 36-square-mile community with 23,600 residents, incorporated into a village in September to help ensure continued orderly growth and development.
"As a town, we could only make recommendations to the county," said Village President James Turek. "Now we have extraterritorial zoning authority, which gives us a say on development within one and a half miles of our borders."
Once the new utilities are laid, the village plans to implement a tax incremental financing district for a 1,950-acre parcel along the north and south corridors of Highway 20, just east of I-94. Mount Pleasant submitted a master land-use plan to the state last fall, and Turek expects the TIF district to be in place within the next two years.
"We will start the zoning process in spring 2004," he said.
 This portion of Highway 20 near Interstate 94 fronts a 1,950-acre proposed development site for the village of Mount Pleasant. The village will run sewer and water lines along this route in the spring and then follow it up with plans for commercial and upscale industrial development. |
Ron Meyer, director of planning and development for Mount Pleasant, said the TIF district will accom-modate mostly commercial and upscale industrial development similar to the Renaissance Business Park in nearby Sturtevant. Turek envisions development along Highway 20 to unfold slowly, pointing to Highway 50 in Kenosha as a positive example of high-end growth.
Kacala said it's a winning formula no matter how it's viewed.
"For those companies that need to locate close to the interstate, the Mount Pleasant development will be ideal," he said.
One of the fastest-growing communities in Wisconsin, Mount Pleasant also has seen its share of commercial development closer to the village center. Late last year, the community welcomed a new shopping center, featuring a Kohl's Department Store and Jewel Osco, on the northwest corner of highways 20 and 31. Development on the 29-acre commercial site continued in 2003 with the construction of two outer build-ings that will soon house a Noodles & Company and a Starbucks.
"This year, we're concentrating mostly on infill," said Meyer, who estimated that the village currently does about $60 million per year in commercial development.
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