Planning commission approves Highland Lakes final plat, continues two cases

The Shelby County Planning Commission’s only June meeting was a brief one, as two of the three cases on its agenda were continued over to the July 17 meeting.

As the only item on the June 19 agenda not continued, the planning commission voted to approve the final plat of Highland Lakes sector 4, phase 3. The request, from Scott Vaughn of Arrington Engineering, was to divide 6.35 acres into four residential lots. The property is zoned as E-2 special district and is part of the Highland Lakes development, Goddard said, and lots would range in size from 1.22 to 2.05 acres. Homes will be similar in size to those across the street, Vaughn said.

The lots are covered in heavy trees and are on a steep incline, Goddard said, and the final plat is consistent with the Highland Lakes master plan and meets subdivision regulations.

“What was on the master plan, we actually are reducing the lots a little bit again,” Vaughn said. “What we’re doing is basically a three lot to two lot conversion. So originally on that master plan, there were six proposed lots, we made them a little bit wider for terrain.”

They picked four that were best terrain-wise, Vaughn said, to see what they can do for development “and hopefully we’ll continue that to that entire phase.”

The planning commission voted unanimously in favor of the change.

Also during the June 19 meeting, the planning commission unanimously agreed to continue a resurvey of several lots in Saddle Ridge Estates, located on Hughes Road off of Highway 49 in Columbiana.

The applicant previously requested a resurvey of the 11 lots on the property, said principal planner Kristine Goddard, but encountered issues when it was determined that a sealcoat was never placed on the road. Applicant Dennis Polley requested a continuance to redesign the subdivision as a rural subdivision.

The planning commission also agreed to continue a rezoning case for a property on Highway 119 across from the Retreat at Greystone. The request was to rezone the 13.5 acre property from agricultural district to single family residential district.

The applicant, James Phillips of DR Horton on behalf of Daniel Corporation, requested the case be continued until July, Goddard said.

“It is a straight rezoning, so you can choose to honor that request [to continue the case] or you can move forward with the case as it is presented to you this evening,” Goddard said.

The request for continuance was for further property study during the due diligence period of acquiring the site, Goddard said. She also pointed out that there is floodway on the site, and the plan presented with the rezoning request was for 30 homes on the site, which is a little more than two units per acre.

“It is consistent with development in the corridor and the master plan of Shelby County,” Goddard said.

The planning commission also unanimously agreed to continue this case.

The next planning commission will be July 17.