Wednesday, June 27, 2001
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Wednesday, June 27, 2001 |
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Request for two more homes denied by PTC Council after citizens oppose rezoning plan By JOHN
MUNFORD
The rezoning request from Hyland Developers would have allowed six homes to be built in a tiny 5.6-acre subdivision ... instead of four. But those two homes riled up part of the Kedron Hills community, which is next to the proposed subdivision. A number of Kedron Hills residents opposed the rezoning at last week's City Council meeting. Following the wishes of the residents, council voted 3-2 to deny the rezoning request, with council members Carol Fritz, Steve Rapson and Dan Tennant in favor. The new subdivision is accessible only through Kedron Hills, which has just one entrance: Loring Lane off north Peachtree Parkway. That makes emergency response times bad and the two additional homes would exacerbate the situation, some residents complained. Other residents opposed the rezoning based on how the tiny Hyland subdivision was created. Originally, it was part of a larger subdivision proposed by Hyland representative Jimmy Halligan ... at least until a dispute began over whether the subdivision was required to be hooked up to sewer service. The Fayette County Health Department informed Halligan that a state regulation required the subdivision to be sewered because it was within 500 feet of an existing sewer line. Putting in sewer infrastructure would be too expensive, Halligan argued at the time. Later, Hyland split up the subdivision into two parts, leaving behind the 5.6-acre tract undeveloped since it was the property closest to the sewer line. That technically freed Hyland to use septic tanks instead of sewerage for the largest portion of the property. At the time, Halligan said he would later come back and develop the remaining land with homes that were sewered. At Thursday's meeting, Halligan argued that the Health Department originally approved the use of septic tanks in the original subdivision. He claimed Hyland Developers received a letter indicating the department's approval. But Councilwoman Carol Fritz, who sits on the county Board of Health, disputed Halligan's claims. She said the Health Department never approved the use of septic tanks for the property. Some Kedron Hills residents claimed Hyland's splitting of the subdivision "was an end run around the state law." "I did not intentionally go behind anyone's back and do anything," Halligan said. Before council voted on the matter, Mayor Bob Lenox said the land use plan calls for the more-dense R-22 zoning. He also said he would rely on the professional opinion of city staff, which recommended the rezoning be approved. "I also find it difficult to believe that two houses will be the end of life as we know it in the [Kedron Hills] subdivision," Lenox said.
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