CLEAR LAKE — The first pieces of the puzzle are starting to come together on the development of land north of State Highway 122 and west of North 32nd Street on Clear Lake’s east side.

The Clear Lake Planning & Zoning Commission last night approved their review of the preliminary plat of the Courtway Park Development on the 62 acres that used to be Andrews Pre-stressed Concrete. The commission also approved the site plan for one of the lots in the development for a “cross dock” trucking and distribution site.

Nick Frederiksen of the Des Moines-based planning company ISG says they plan to develop the land into 11 lots.  “Lots one through six are designated as commercial, more commercial-based. Lots seven through 11 will be designated as light industrial. That would be the northern portion of the project. Originally this was set up as “Phase 1” and “Phase 2” on it because we didn’t know about the development opportunities through development of working with the city and the Halls, we decided to develop the entirety at once.”

Frederiksen says the roads in the development will be completely paved. “It’s going to be an eight-inch hot mix asphalt roadway with curb and gutter throughout the project. Storm water is being detained on site…that water is being detained and released at a rate that was agreed upon with the city’s engineer.”

While a large-scale hotel and conference center is likely to be the keystone of the Courtway Park Development project, Frederiksen after the meeting would not confirm to reporters what would occupy 10 of the 11 lots in the development.

One of the lots would be used by North Carolina-based Old Dominion Freight Line for a $5 million capital investment, creating up to ten full-time jobs, for what’s commonly referred to as a “cross dock” or “less than truckload” distribution facility. Greg Estes is senior construction manager for Chase Construction of Nashville Tennessee and represented Old Dominion at last night’s meeting.  “The way it works — the best description is that it’s like an airport. Trucks come in, things get moved to another truck and it gets moved out. It’s trucks coming in and trucks going out and moving freight all around the area.”

Estes says a number of things will go through the cross-dock facility.  “They haul everything, anything you can imagine. Somebody said 90-percent of what you touch in a day is hauled on a truck. They haul freight of every kind. If you go on the dock, you’ll see anything from a lawn mower to a pile full of cookies.”

The Planning & Zoning unanimously approved forwarding the preliminary plat for the Courtway Park Development as well as the site plan for Old Dominion to the City Council for review at their meeting this coming Monday.

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