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Otsego: Unplanned Growth <br />• The, experience of Otsego illustrates the effects of poorly managed growth. A <br />township until 1990, the city is struggling with the financial and environmental <br />problems resulting from unplanned residential growth. <br />Before passage of the Wright County comprehensive plan in 1978,.Otsego Town- <br />ship was developed in a shotgun manner, with small clusters of one and two acre <br />residential lots interspersed within agricultural areas. Uncontrolled development. <br />poses significant financial an environment pro ems for Otsego. Rapid urban- <br />zatlon resulted in serious flooding a.nd drainage problems requumg the township <br />to issue more than $450,000 in bonds to remedy these troubles. <br />Sewage treatment remains a paramount concern of local officials. The permeable <br />soil conditions,. relatively high housing densities and proximity of wells to on -site <br />sewage systems in northeast Otsego heighten the threat of ground -water contami- <br />nation. However, payments for a municipal sewage treatment system would equal <br />nearly a third of the city's annual budget. Sewage treatment alone would require <br />about a 50 percent increase in township taxes, on top of a one -time utility assess- <br />ment. Assessments would be high, given the relatively large road frontages of the <br />one- and two -acre lots. <br />• Otsego shows what can happen when growth occurs without planning or an <br />attempt to preserve farmland. The costs are often felt decades later. Even when <br />good planning is applied, it can be too late to check the environmental problems <br />and prevent the high costs of remedial action. <br />is <br />