Wednesday, December 24, 2003
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Wednesday, December 24, 2003 |
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Plans need work, Tyrone tells Wieland Homes By MICHAEL BOYLAN Many developers know that getting a development approved in Tyrone can be tough. The Planning Commission can be strict, as can the Town Council, and the citizens are very passionate about how their town is developed. John Wieland Homes learned this lesson again last week at a meeting of the Town Council. Wieland proposed a development south of Kirkley Road and across from their Southampton development on Ga. Highway 74. It is on land that used to belong to Truett Cathy, founder of Chick-fil-A. They wished to build 205 lots on 205 developable acres, with 9.7 acres of office space, 20 acres dedicated for a school and close to 100 acres of open space. The homes would sell for between $250,000 and $400,000. The large amount of open space is mainly environmentally sensitive areas, such as wetlands. While every home would have direct access to the open space, the majority of lot sizes would be half-acre lots. This goes against the town’s ordinance which states that homes can’t be built on lots less than one acre, but it does follow the state’s conservation subdivision ordinance when homes are clustered, but the amount of space is still the same. The town will have to adopt a similar ordinance within the next 18 months, but since they have time, the council continued the matter until the Jan. 15 meeting. Among the concerns from citizens at the meeting were inconsistent lot size, traffic increase and wastewater treatment. A number of homes in the proposed development would be along Mann Road, which currently has homes on lot sizes of five acres or more. Residents wanted the lots closer to Mann Road to be more consistent with what is already there. As for traffic, the development was showing how the road would connect with the proposed Sandy Creek extension, also referred to as the Northern Arc. Several citizens mentioned that this is not a done deal and were concerned about increased traffic along the entrance to the subdivision. The plan also called for a wastewater treatment plant to be built on the site and to have a pressure drip system. This would be similar to the Millbrook subdivision. Wieland representatives also felt that they would be able to hook on to the sewer system. Citizens and council members were not so sure and raised concerns over this as well. Town Manager Barry Amos said that 45 percent of the land in the development would be open space, the proposed wastewater treatment plant would be in the least intrusive area in the development and that there would be no driveways off of the bypass. For those reasons, Amos said, he could recommend approval of the development, despite the fact that the development would not keep with the town’s ordinance for one-acre minimum lot size. David Nebergall represented the Planning Commission and also recommended approval, with a number of conditions. Among the conditions were that the area designated as a school site be dedicated to the Fayette County Board of Education, a 60-foot buffer along Hwy. 74 be built for the school, all lots on the western side of Mann Road be a minimum of three acres, and the Sandy Creek extension be a gradual turn and not a stop and turn, which would limit traffic. Council members felt that the citizens’ concerns were valid and asked the representatives from Wieland Homes to try to work something out that addressed those concerns. They wanted less density, an increase in the lot size along Mann Road and hook-ups to the existing sewer instead of creation of a drip field. Wieland will bring the amended plan before the council Jan. 15 at 7 p.m.
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