The plan for Ames’ future developments can only move in three possible directions.

The Ames City Council met with concerned land developers, contractors and citizens Tuesday night to discuss growth plans for Ames.

“The current Land Use Policy Plan shows three directions we could possibly grow in: To the north, northwest and southwest,” said Steve Osguthorpe, director of Ames planning and housing. “We recently considered the cost of impact in all three directions.”

Tuesday’s roundtable discussion, Osguthorpe said, was organized to provide facts and foster discussion, not to come to a decision.

Recently, the city staff completed an analysis of the costs and development possibilities for all three directions, and a short summary was presented by Charlie Kuester, Ames city planner.

The study showed that the southwest region, which includes land south of U.S. Highway 30 and west of South Dakota Avenue, had the greatest amount of usable net acres and population increase. The northwest region – north of Ontario Street – had the lowest price per acre. And the north region, north of Bloomington Road and west of George Washington Carver Avenue, had the greatest cost per acre and would require “another $53 million in system improvements,” said City Councilman Matthew Goodman.

Matt Eller, of Eller Enterprises, said the north region looks bad from the outset, but it shouldn’t be excluded entirely.

“If you look at the goals of the council – promoting environmental responsibility, promote one community – growing north promotes those goals,” he said.

Mayor Ann Campbell also chimed in by urging everyone to not just focus on financial matters.

“Something to keep in mind is that this is just the dollars side of the analysis,” she said. “There are intangible factors, such as the effect on school districts and the environment, to factor in.”

Irv Klaas, Ames resident, agreed with protecting the environment during growth periods, especially the lake in Ada Hayden Heritage Park.

“It provides a habitat to many forms of wildlife, and there is an aquifer underneath that could potentially be used for drinking water,” he said. “We should take what measures we can to protect the water quality.”

There were some at the meeting who advocated choosing more than one region for growth, such as Chuck Winkleblack, agent with Hunziker and Associates.

“If we just say, ‘Build in this one region,’ we will all have to be back here before too long, trying to have the same discussion,” he said.

Goodman responded by saying the way methods of growth were determined in the past was simpler.

“It used to be that when land was available, the town would grow that way,” he said. “The bad part about that, though, was the balance between the increase in land price and the subsidization of land.”

Regardless of the direction Ames decides to grow in, many suggested that the council should not delay much longer.

“There really needs to be a decision on where growth in Ames will occur,” said Bill Spencer, president of Regency Land Development Services in West Des Moines.

“Until there is a decision, the developers can’t focus on an area to build and concentrate their efforts.”