Wednesday, May 1, 2002
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Wednesday, May 1, 2002 |
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Commission nixes smaller lots By JOHN
THOMPSON
The Fayette County Commission sent a strong message Thuesday to developers of smaller lots. By a unanimous vote, the County Commission denied a request by Frank Flanders to rezone 10.19 acres on Coastline road from R-70 (two-acre minimum) to R-45, (one-acre minimum). The public hearing on the property started out in a strange way. Flanders' agent, David Hovey, asked the County Commission to table the matter, since Flanders was out of town. But the county tabled it last month, and told Hovey it would be unfair to table it again when there were people in the audience who had showed up to discuss the rezoning. So Hovey presented Flanders' case and said nine homesites were planned for the tract. Hovey said when the original tract was zoned R-45, Flanders was asked to leave this parcel out of the rezoning request because the county was in the process of acquiring right of way for Coastline Road. Now, Hovey said, Flanders is ready to develop the land. If the county approved the rezoning, Flanders would have 74 homes in the Ellen Ridge subdivision, which would be six lower than the county originally approved for the site. The only resident who spoke on the issue was a familar face to many in the crowd. County solicitor Steve Harris said he lived about a half-mile from the site and did not want to see smaller lots. "This section is zoned two acres and sits over an area that is the headlands of Whitewater Creek. He can still build four homes. Where do we stop?" he said. The commissioners agreed with Harris. Commissioner Linda Wells said more homes would bring more pressure to the school system and was afraid of the precedent the zoning would set. "I think the domino effect would begin," she said. Commission chairman Greg Dunn said he agreed with Wells and said Flanders had an additional 150-200 acres near the site of this rezoning that could be asked to be rezoned if this property was allowed to have smaller lots.
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