Wednesday, September 25, 2002
|
Wednesday, September 25, 2002 |
|
Unpopular rezoning continued in Tyrone By MICHAEL BOYLAN
More than 20 citizens in Tyrone came out to last Thursday's Town Council meeting to voice their displeasure over a possible rezoning on a 36.724-acre tract owned by developer Burt Clark. The tract is bordered by Laurelwood Road and Laurel Lake Drive and the people that live near there do not want to see any changes. They have signed petitions, met with Clark on several occasions and voiced their opinions at town council and planning and zoning meetings. It was supposed to be resolved one way or the other on Thursday, but it wasn't. The council decided to continue the discussion into the first meeting in October. Clark's original plan was to put 23 one-acre lots on the tract, donate eight acres of green space to the town and leave another acre or so for a possible extension of Laurelwood Road, if it is ever needed. The Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of his plans. No one in the crowd came forward to support Clark's plan but when Mayor Sheryl Lee asked if anybody wanted to speak in opposition to the plan, many citizens came forward. Janet Smola, a member of the Fayette County Board of Education, was worried about problems that the septic systems might cause to the wetlands area or to Line Creek, while Tracy Heard suggested that the council honor the established land use plan. Between 20 to 30 other citizens stood up to show their support for Heard's idea. Mike Smola, running against Councilman Ronnie Cannon, echoed this statement, saying that the land use plan was like a holy grail as to how the town would be developed. Eric Allen presented close to 430 petition cards to the council, while Steven Shaw voiced concern over the council establishing a precedent that would encourage more developers to come in and rezone property. Randy Boyd, a surveyor for Clark, gave the rebuttal, trying to assure the citizens that septic tanks would only cause problems if they were installed improperly and that by dedicating the green space, it would be protected. For those who voiced concerns about an increase in traffic, Boyd went and examined the current traffic in the area and rarely saw stacking traffic, which is when one car is stopped behind another car. "To me, this is just an example of people moving into an area and wanting to shut the door," said Boyd. "If this mentality was here 10 years ago half the people opposed to this development wouldn't even be here." Boyd then went on to cite a number of subdivisions that feature houses on one-acre lots, which constituted the homes that 74 percent of the people opposed to the development live on. Clark then came up and presented the council with several alternatives. There was the original plan, a plan that fell under conservative redistricting, which would create 15 two acre lots but would not dedicate green space to the town, a combination of 17 one- and two-acre lots and the dedication of the 8.25 acres of green space and one where he would stick with the current zoning and build several houses on three acre lots but would not have any restrictions. Town Manager Barry Amos came up before council and recommended consideration of the third proposal, though he admitted that staff did not get a chance to closely examine the proposals. Council agreed that the third proposal seemed like it would be in the best interest of the town but wanted to get a sense of what the concerned citizens thought of it. They also wanted more time to examine the plans, so the topic will be continued at the Oct. 17 Town Council meeting. Between now and then citizens will be able to meet with Clark again and see the third option go before planning and zoning. The Town Council will meet again Thursday, Oct. 3.
|
||