163-home development not compatible with current zoning, land use code
BY DANIEL SCHMIDT
FOR THE OBSERVER
AUBURN — A proposed 163-home subdivision in north Auburn is now indefinitely postponed after the developer withdrew several ordinances at Thursday night’s Auburn City Council meeting due to uncertainty.
That uncertainty comes as the city looks to update its CompPlan 2030 and future land use map. Proposed changes include new recommendations for appropriate land uses and densities for properties inside and outside city limits, where commercial development should be encouraged and the inclusion of updated data and maps.
Currently, the city’s future land use map designates the property as rural, allowing developers to build one single-family home on three acres. Without any changes, that would allow the developer to build a maximum of 17 homes on the 53.5 acre property located on W. Farmville Road between N. Donahue Drive and N. College Street.
As a result, the proposed development of 163 homes is incompatible with the property’s current zoning and the city’s land use code. If the city votes to annex the property and updates its future land use map, that property’s designation will change from rural to low-density residential, which would allow developers to build no more than four single-family homes per acre, or 214 total homes.
The council ultimately voted to postpone voting on any potential changes until its April 15 meeting. Ward 5 Council Member Sonny Moreman initially sought the delay, citing a need to give council members and the public more time to study the proposal.
Lee Tharp, a project engineer who represented the applicant, said the applicant needed more clarity about how those proposed changes could impact the project moving forward only after the council voted to approve or deny them.
“We were just hoping to have [those changes] finalized before we brought that before the council,” Tharp told the council. “I know that was an issue at the Planning Commission, [and] we were able to talk through that. But it just seemed like it would be a clearer path forward once you guys have decided on where that future land use plan stands.”
Before Tharp officially requested all three ordinances on the agenda be withdrawn completely, Ward 3 Council Member Beth Witten suggested the council go ahead and vote to annex the property since it fell within the city’s optimal boundary for annexation.
Moreman ultimately disagreed since the current property owner, who is not the developer, was not present at the meeting and did not explicitly make the request themselves.
“I don’t necessarily disagree with that logic, but my feeling is that if the property owner is not represented, it’s not customary or reasonable, I don’t think, to annex something that’s not requested,” Moreman said.
According to City Manager Megan McGowen Crouch, developers can seek annexation and re-zoning of properties if the property owners fill out an application of authorization, even if the property is not yet under legal contract.
City Planning Director Justice Wahid Cotton confirmed the application had the necessary legal paperwork from the property owner allowing the applicant to seek annexation and rezoning. He added developments cannot move forward without such documents if the developer does not yet own the property.
While there is no definitive timeline for the project to get back on track, Tharp expressed intent for the project to move forward once any uncertainties are resolved. To go before the council again for approval, the developer must represent the proposal to the Planning Commission.
In other business:
- The council announced five board vacancies on the Metropolitan Planning Organization Citizens Advisory Committee. Those terms will begin on March 9 and end on March 8, 2029. The council will make those appointments at its Feb. 18 meeting.
- The council approved a $30,050 contract with Ace Tree Service as part of the Public Works Department’s December 2024 tree removal and pruning project.
- The council approved a $77,718 contract with Alabama Power Company for the removal of power poles and the installation of underground power as part of the Toomer Street streetscape project.
- The council approved a $114,600 contract with Barge Design Solutions to survey, inspect and assess part of the city’s stormwater drainage system.
- The council approved a $105,467 contract with Inline Electric Supply for the purchase of four traffic signal poles and mast arms for the N. College Street and Drake Avenue intersection improvements project.
- The council approved a $179,230 contract with ProLogic ITS to purchase and install patrol vehicle upfit equipment on 12 vehicles.
- The council approved a $50,000 contract with Williams Blackstock Architects to design various functional and safety modifications to City Hall.
- The council accepted right-of-way, public drainage and utility easements and a public sewer easement from Clayton Properties Group in the Mimm’s Trail Subdivision near the end of Mimm’s Trail.
- The council accepted public easements from Samford Development Group in the Asbury Hills Subdivision, which is located along Shelton Mill Road.
- The council accepted right-of-way and public easements from Tiger Creek Development in the Walker Carlton Subdivision on Sarah Lane.
- The council approved the annexation of the Samples Property, which encompasses 53.5 acres on the north side of West Farmville Road between Pepperwood Trail and Auburn Lakes Road.
- The council approved the rezoning of Greenwood Village from rural to development district housing. That property encompasses 53.5 acres located on the north side of West Farmville Road between Pepperwood Trail and Auburn Lakes Road.
- The council postponed voting to rezone the Greenwood Village development until its Feb. 18 meeting. If approved, that ordinance will apply the planned development district designation to 53.5 acres in the development district housing zoning district.
- The council postponed voting on several amendments to the city’s zoning ordinance text in article five, section 504 until its March 18 meeting.
- The council postponed voting on a conditional use application until its Feb. 18 meeting at the request of Christian Brothers Automotive. If approved, that conditional use will allow the applicant to operate an automotive repair facility located at 2860 E. University Drive.
- The council approved a $391,216 tax abatement for Seohan Auto USA Corp. Documents show the company plans to hire eight new employees over the next three years and make a $5 million capital investment.
- The council approved a $864,020 contract with Veit National Corporation to inspect sanitary sewer mains as part of the Mall and Tacoma Basins sanitary sewer rehabilitation project.
