Aragon to decide on new village house

♦ Smaller lot size called for city zoning board to pass decision to council for July vote

Thanks to Aragon’s zoning committee, a new house might be born from the ashes of a destroyed one.

A property owner in past weeks sought permission from the Aragon Zoning Board of Appeals to put up a new house on the tiny lot, though still smaller than what is usually required in the zoning ordinance now. Board members agreed the item was worth directing to the Aragon City Council members to make a final decision about the issue.

“I just want to add me and Garry, we discussed this before too,” Public Works Superintendent Daniel Johnson said. “When they did the requirement for the square footage for the new houses, they didn’t account for these city lots being so small that if something ever happened to the houses, someone might rebuild there.”

Permission to build was required mainly because of the tiny lot size. Code enforcement means a home can’t be created on a piece of land where small size could pose a safety hazard for the inhabitants.

The one bedroom house that burned down occupied more than 700 square feet where it stood previously.

The new home plans call for more rooms within a similar space but using up as much of the property as possible while still maintaining easements and space between the small village lot sizes.

“I think it’ll be an asset because I know what these little properties look like,” Johnson said. “It’s all going to look good I think it’d be in our best interest to approve it.”

If approved for construction, the house will be put up for sale.

The council’s approval means Aragon could revamp their housing industry while ensuring locals can find quality homes for sale, but the house must also pass inspection. They won’t be making any decision on whether to move forward until their July meeting.

Even then, builders will still have to meet all the same requirements of any new construction in Aragon and Polk County as a whole.

“It has to go through the whole permit process and be inspected,” Johnson said.

Aragon Mayor Garry Baldwin added in a brief follow-up interview the plans call for a similar style to the houses already built in the Oak Hollow subdivision the city council approved in 2017.