Subdivision plans shared with commission

— Members of the planning and zoning commission on Thursday got a brief glimpse at conceptual plans to build a large subdivision in the southwest part of the city.

Mike James, of Gentry, showed commission members conceptual drawings of a subdivision with almost 300 new homes which he hopes to have built west of Taylor's Orchard on both the north and south sides of Marion Lee Road to the west of Overdale Road.

James said current plans were to build the subdivision in phases, with the first being on approximately 35 acres on the north side of Marion Lee Road, and the second phase on approximately 40 acres to the south of the road. He said a third phase would then follow on additional acreage to the south of the phase-two property, reaching as far south as Taylor Orchard Road and City Lake Road. He said starting on the north side of the road made sense because he could then hook up to water and sewer from the closest point and expand the lines south as needed.

James said plans would include putting in 6-inch water lines from an existing 6-inch line in the area and replacing a portion of line to the area which is currently a 3-inch line with 6-inch. He said he had easements to run sewer line directly from the site of the proposed subdivision to the Gentry sewer plant.

Plans would also require paving the portion of Marion Lee Road west of the intersection of Overdale Road and putting in curb and gutter.

James said plans were to build median-priced homes. He said he didn't intend to build mansions but the homes would not be cheaply built, either. He said he wanted to see homes built which working families could afford.

The conceptual plans were brought to the commission to see if commission members had concerns which needed to be addressed before plans progress to engineering work and more detailed plans. Since no concerns were raised, James said he would likely be back before the commission again for approval on preliminary plats and additional plans for official approval.

The land on which the subdivision is being planned is now within Gentry's city limits. The subdivision, according to James, has been in the planning stages for some time but was put on hold when the economy took a downturn about 10 years ago.

In other business, after a public hearing the commission granted a variance to Larry Overton to add on to an existing storage building at his property at 208 N. Otis to allow the rear of the building to extend 2 feet beyond the normal 5-foot set back from his property line and to make the building larger than 40 percent of the size of his residence.

The commission determined no action was needed to allow Richard Barry to continue to use a portion of the recently acquired Parks Lumber Company property for a residence even though it is in an industrial zone. Jay Williams, city attorney, said no variance or zoning change was needed since Barry intended to continue the same use which was grandfathered in when Gentry's zoning ordinance was adopted even though the residential area will be expanded into a portion of the building used by the lumber company for business purposes.

General News on 04/27/2016