The Ripon City Council gave the green light Tuesday for staff to proceed with the conceptual townhouse project proposed at 122 N. Elm Ave.

Planning Director Ken Zuidervaart indicated that the next step from here would be to prepare an overall project budget and identify funding sources.

Elected leaders approved the services of Keesey Design last December to provide site development concepts for the project consisting of three craftsman-style condominiums near Ripon Memorial Library.

The City of Ripon owns the property just north of the library. The Elm Street plans would replace the small warehouse currently used to store public works supplies, according to Zuidervaart in his staff report.

He noted that the alley that runs from Elm to North Locust Avenue would have to be re-done with concrete pavers to match the downtown streets.

“The Keesey Design scope of work included preparing a site layout to show the feasible number of affordable housing units that could be located on this parcel along with unit floor plan design drawings and elevations,” said Zuidervaart.

The conceptual design consists of three two-story townhouses fitted for the property.

The townhouses would each have three bedrooms along with 2 ½ baths on 1,625 square feet.

Each unit would have a designated single car garage and the site would include an additional four car covered parking area for residents.

In addition, the three units would have covered balconies of the master suites on the front and include a covered patio/storage area in the rear yard.

Other work would consist of undergrounding of overhead utilities along the alley; installing new curb, gutter, and sidewalk; and parceling the property to allow for the creation of the condominium project.