BY DANIEL SCHMIDT FOR THE OBSERVER
AUBURN — Nearly 200 acres north of U.S. Highway 280 will remain a part of unincorporated Lee County after opposition from nearby residents tanked a proposal to rezone and incorporate the property into the city of Auburn.
The Auburn City Council on Dec. 17 unanimously voted against that measure, which would have incorporated the 178 acres and applied the conservation overlay district designation to the currently rural land.
Before the vote, Ward 3 Council Member Beth Witten said the city’s planning staff giving the property low priority for annexation and opposition against the plan would cause her to vote against it. She later added annexing the future subdivision would also place further strain on city services including school buses, garbage collection and water.
The council’s decision will not impact development of the proposed Asheton Glenn Subdivision, which is a use by right. The Auburn Planning Commission approved the 21-lot final plat at its Nov. 14 meeting, although the property could eventually include up to 59 residential lots.
The applicant’s concept plan shows 59 total residential lots, which are mostly concentrated toward the property’s western boundary.
Currently, the city’s conservation overlay district ordinance encourages the conservation of water and other natural resources by allowing developers to build denser neighborhoods on less land. According to documents included in last Tuesday’s meeting, the typical lot size in the proposed development will be 1.2 acres.
At the meeting, concerned residents who live near the property presented a range of arguments against annexing it into the city and against the development of the land into a subdivision entirely.
In light of recent outrage over a developer cutting down a tree and destroying a bald eagle nest in north Auburn, Melissa Wheelis asked the council if the developer could be trusted to responsibility build on the property.
“It seems to me that this comes down to trust. Are we to trust that an out-of-town developer will have our best interest at heart in the city of Auburn, or would it seem more logical for the developer to ensure his is profitable?” Wheelis said. “I believe we all recently learned the hard way with the eagle debacle that not all developers can be trusted, and some are bad actors.”
Tamara Kett then claimed the change would give developers a “legal loophole” to build homes on one-acre lots in areas where individual homeowners and home builders must build homes on at least three acres. According to Lee County’s current subdivision and land development regulations, the county health department’s regulations currently determine the minimum lot size to be able to build on.
“To me that indicates that opposition to this kind of rezoning and development is far wider than our neighborhood alone, because everybody in a rurally zoned land in or adjacent to Auburn recognizes that their rural tranquility will be vulnerable to exploitation by developers,” Kett said.
Toward the end of the public comment period, Dave Patrick voiced concerns about water around the proposed development. He said his house has lost access to water at least five times in the past 10 years due to power and pump failures, later adding an inability to secure the water supply could pose safety and health risks.
“We have a serious water problem in that area, and the density that we’re seeing on the south side of [Highway 280] is going to cause us problems,” Patrick said. “I believe maybe a moratorium on home building should be considered until that water tower is completed.”
It is currently unclear when construction of the subdivision will begin.
In other news, the council resolved several other items of business:
- The council approved a $886,858 contract with Samsara Inc. to renew the Environmental Services Department’s fleet management software.
- The council approved a $726,477 contract with JLD Enterprises for the Gay Street streetscape project.
- The council approved a $366,585 contract with SHI International for renew an agreement for Microsoft Enterprise.
- The council approved a $305,000 contract with Headley Construction Corporation for the Samford Avenue tennis and pickleball court renovation project.
- The council approved an $80,468 contract with Stryker Medical to buy four LUCAS 3 chest compression devices for the Fire Department.
- The council declared a property surplus and authorized the sale of property located at 1284 Mall Parkway. The city will sell that 0.91 acres of land to Allen Investments for $350,000.
- The council approved a performance residential development located at 708 Harper Ave.
- The council approved a performance residential development for the eighth phase of The Boulevard, which will be located at the end of Gidden Street.
- The council approved a commercial support use for a contractor storage yard, mini-warehouse and warehouse for the property located at 375 W. Veterans Blvd.
- The council accepted right-of-way and other various easements for The Preserve Phase 6A, which is located along West Farmville Road.
- The council accepted public right-of-way and other various easements for Asheton Glenn along Watercrest Drive.
- The council annexed 43.8 acres located at 2303 Lee Road 10, better known as Beehive Road, and rezoned that property from rural to industrial.
- The council postponed a vote on the CompPlan 2030 five-year update until its Jan. 21 meeting to give council members more time to review the item.
