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P&Z OKs lake plan

By BEN NELMS
bnelms@TheCitizenNews.com

Fayetteville Planning & Zoning board members Tuesday gave their approval to recommend a rezoning request to change the zoning of the Pye Lakes development from R-22 to R-22 PUD. The issue had been tabled in July to give the board time to review the development agreement between property trustee Harriet Pye Parham, Scarbrough & Rolader Development, LLC and the City of Fayetteville.

Developer Bob Rolader told board members Tuesday that more progress on determining responsibility for the construction of the new Pye Lake Drive on the west side of the development had occurred since the board’s last meeting. Commenting on whether the city or the developer would be responsible for constructing the road, Rolader said his company had executed an amendment to the agreement signifying that Scarbrough & Rolader would bear the responsibility.

Development plans call for the establishment of a total of 12 lots, with three lots fronting partially or completely along Pye Lake Drive. The remaining lots will front along Hood Avenue. Rolader said the asphalting of Pye Lake Drive would extend to the half cul-de-sac at the far end of the last lot.

Fayetteville council members voted in April to accept title to the lake to upgrade the Pye Lake Dam for required flood control in exchange for designating 12 lots along Hood Avenue and Pye Lake Drive as a R-22 PUD development. Work on the dam upgrade project will be accessed via the new Pye Lake Drive.

The lots previously carried an R-22 zoning designation. The agreement also included the sale of a 3.16-acre tract on the south side of the lake by property trustee Harriet Pye Parham to the city for $50,000 for use as greenspace.

Problems with the 39-year-old dam and the threat to life and property down gradient surfaced several years ago. Studies showed that the Pye Lake dam had several structural problems. Several homes were damaged in June 2003 and problems identified that year by the state Safe Dams program revealed that a breach during a heavy rain event could endanger nearby residents. The dam is categorized as a Category 1 dam, meaning that its failure has the potential to endanger at least one life. Fayetteville maintenance crews installed a siphon in late 2003 to lower the water level to prevent further weakening.

The state’s Environmental Protection Division imposed an April 2008 deadline for executing a construction contract for the upgrade work. The city is currently attempting to secure federal grant monies to provide the majority of the funds needed for the dam upgrade project. Plans have been submitted to EPD’s Safe Dams program.

Still unanswered is a question posed by a local resident at the Planning & Zoning August work session relating to whether the public would have access to the lake given that it and more than three acres of greenspace will be owned by the city.