Pet business owners make offer on land in development park

LE MARS — An offer on a lot in the Southview Industrial Park could set a price for land in the development.

Bobbi and DJ Kellen and their daughters, Hailey Kellen and Brittany Lake, want to purchase a lot that is 340 feet by 200 feet, the equivalent of 1.56 acres. The park has not been platted, the Le Mars City Council was told during its Tuesday, March 7, meeting, but “this lot does fit with the initial concept.”

They are offering $136,000 for the lot, which is $2 per square foot. The family plans to open a business called Pet Parlor, which would provide dog grooming, day care and boarding. The lot is located on the south side of a street planned through the park, and on the west side of Lake Avenue.

“It will be the first one purchased,” Community Development Director Mark Gaul told the Le Mars Sentinel.

Gaul said there is a lot of demand for such businesses, and the industrial park would be a good setting, with any barking not bothering neighbors, and the relative quiet a good setting for the canines.

“A light industrial area like this is ideal,” Gaul said.

He said this sale could establish a base price for land in the park. The development park includes 18.25 acres. Gaul said there will be 20 lots in the park once it is platted, ranging in size from a half acre to 1.56 acres. Platting means carving a piece of ground into lots for individual sale.

Southview Industrial Park, formerly called the Le Mars South Industrial Park, offers smaller industrial lots from one half to one acre to accommodate smaller light industrial, service businesses or storage businesses. JEO Engineering of South Sioux City, Nebraska, has been hired to prepare a plan to plat and develop the lots, and that work will continue into the spring.

“We’ve got a long way to go,” Gaul said.

The Pet Parlor owners can apply for a three-year tax abatement on the land, Gaul said. They also requested the right to bid on .86 acres of land directly west of this site if an offer is made on it.

A public hearing on the proposed purchase and any offers submitted by noon Monday, March 20, will be held during the Tuesday, March 21, City Council meeting.