ROGERS --A second request to build upscale houses on land south of West Laurel Avenue and Dixieland Road was denied Tuesday by the Planning Commission after again hearing concerns by residents.
Developers asked the commission for permission to change a planned unit development on the site. The change would have allowed for five units to be built per acre. A request from the same developers was denied last month. The request was to allow seven units per acre.
Garrison Roddey, developer for Lin Roddey Homes, said the rezoning would have allowed 40 homes to be built on the 8-acre lot. The homes would have been between 2,500 to 3,300 square feet and start at $299,900.
"We feel these homes will add a lot of value to the area," Roddey said.
The request asked setbacks for the property be reduced from 7 to 5 feet. Commissioners raised concerns with the setback reduction.
"Our City Council has told us how much they dislike going below 10 feet," Mark Myers, planning commissioner, said.
Smaller setbacks can cause concerns with fires, Myers said. He said the fire can spread easier between buildings.
Roddey said the homes would be built to a higher fire standard. He said this is required with smaller setbacks.
The 5-foot setbacks are needed to try to meet the value of the surrounding neighborhoods, Roddey said.
The previous request asked for an increase in height. Roddey asked to build the townhomes at 37 feet tall. City code limits height in the zone to 35 feet. Commissioner expressed concerns about the height at the previous meeting. The newest request lowered the height to about 30 feet.
Myers said he wasn't concerned with the five units per acre found in the Tuesday night request.
"I think this is a good transition for the area," Myers said.
The previous request for seven units per acre had too much density for the area, Myers said.
Roddey was asking to build a townhouse community on the land previously.
Nearby property owners were still concerned with the density Tuesday night. About 30 property owners attended the meeting. Three people spoke against the request.
Rex Bennett said he had a concern with the lot sizes.
"These lots are small compared to us," Bennett said.
Derrel Smith, city planner, previously said residential lots around the proposed development have three or less homes per acre on them. The property also sits across Dixieland Road from an area zoned commercial.
Roddey said he plans to sit down with city officials and property owners to discuss other options for the property in the future.
"What we saw from the first meeting is that they really want to listen to surrounding landowners as do we," Roddey said.
NW News on 09/02/2015