By Shane Goodman shane@dmcityview.com

Concerns over quality of land

Residential and commercial growth for any community is exciting. And when it results from a well thought out master plan on unutilized land, it becomes quite attractive. Ankeny has this in its new Prairie Trail project that will utilize land north of Des Moines that seems ideal for this type of development. A residential study for the project estimates over 1,900 new housing units will be constructed over the next six years along with up to 400,000 square foot of retail and office space. And, according to the project website, new civic, cultural and educational facilities are anticipated, too.

Prairie Trail is part of an effort to provide the burgeoning suburb with a sense of community, a feel that many towns like Adel, Winterset and Pella have with their town squares. Suburbs often are missing this, which can be witnessed at any number of growing communities now attached to Des Moines.

This project could be a huge boon for the city of Ankeny in numerous ways, and many are truly excited about this master-planned development as it becomes a destination point for not only living, but for shopping, dining, entertainment and recreation. The artists renditions are stunning, to say the least.

But not everyone is excited about this new development. Some are now expressing concern over the quality of the land due to its previous use - property that was used as an Iowa State research farm and for the manufacturing and testing of munitions during World War II. Over the years, Iowa State University, Deere and Company and Des Moines Area Community College all purchased portions of the original 2,200 acre site. The city of Ankeny purchased over 1,000 acres from Iowa State University in June of 2005. A month later, the city selected DRA Properties, LLC as the developer to carry out the plan.

Reporter Brenda Fullick takes an inside look at the project and how the city and the developer are responding to the environmental concerns.

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