Planning and Zoning Meeting - Regular Meeting

All right. Thank you, oh God, for this day. We ask that you will bless this meeting. Pray God that decision that be made here today that you will be a part of. In your name we pray. We say together. Amen. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Motion to approve minutes from March 13th. Motion. Second. Move the properly second. All in favor? Eyes have it. So it is. Motion to open public hearing. Second. All in favor? Eyes have it. So it is. Mary Jane. Mary Jane and Walter Bowwell Walter Bzoning. Yes, sir. We're for it because we're tired of the all the noise around us. They're on three sides of us

24/7. And it's inevitable that we sell out and move, reszone and sell out. Any questions? Just for the record, this this property is u in very close proximity to the mega site and some of the other properties that have been reszoned subsequently developed as part and parcel of that mega site, Amazon, AWS, Clark Beverage, all those entities that have moved out to that area. Where that is the mega site is to comes up right now to our west fence and the south fence and they're cleaning and the lime when they put the lime out our cars are white and these cars are not naturally white. So, I mean, it it it's not the best place to to be living full-time with at our age, all the stuff in the air and all the noise and it it's just it's a mess. Any opposition? I entertain a motion. Second. It's been moved and properly second. All in favor? Eyes have it. So, it is. Thank you. Thank you, Fwell LTD. Star B. Well, I reckon I'm the one that heads it all

up. This is same thing with mom and daddy. They're actually their piece of property is a lifetime estate out of the rest of the property. It's there. So, we're going to we're looking to resone it. So, we can get more money for it and get it sold, go to our next heaven somewhere. Okay. Any questions? No. I entertain a motion. Been moved to properly second. All in favor? Eyes have it. So it is. Thank you sir. Glor foundation. My name is Daniel Waldridge. Uh I'm the architect for the project. My office is in Gluckstead at 464 Church Road. Uh we have a piece of property that is on Old Jackson Road just to the north of Glustat. Um right uh couple hundred yards from Swell Road crossing Old Jackson Road. We uh would like to have it the conditional use for religious purposes. We will be building a temple on that site. Is this connecting to the Pine Lake? It does not connect to Pine Lake. Questions. I brought some sight plans. If you want to see a site plan of the site, I would. Thank you.

Is this just a conceptual drawing? You you'll bring back a full cycle. Okay. There's two buildings on the site. It's a It's a very large site. We're we're located the buildings in the back of the site area. Um the site is split by drainage area or creek area that's in a flood way and we will not be obviously encroaching on the flood way. Uh there's two buildings. One's the temple. Uh the other is a dining hall or family life center. Uh, and there will be uh some soccer fields, some outdoor areas for uh recreation along with it. Andy with this and Scott I guess with this being conceptual and they'll have to come back and we have to see it again and all the things but do we have any idea I guess right now what the hours of operation would be and all the things or we'll just have to wait on that till after we pass the conceptual and then well your your conditional use would be passed on the conditions you know, whatever you may impose as he's just described with it being a religious organization. Uh I don't know what their particular you know hours are whether they meet on Sundays or Saturdays or any other days of the week Wednesday night prayer meeting talking kind of traditional here. Um but no but we don't know that unless Daniel has that information. You're certainly I don't know. That's right. I don't know it in the specifics, but I know it's like a it's a there's a

there's a the day in the middle of the week where they meet and then there's a day on the weekend, but it is a purpose of worship. Correct. It's just a purpose of worship. And a family center. Excuse me. And a family center. And a family center. I don't have any more questions. Any opposition? I entertain a motion. motion. It's been moved properly second. All in favor? So it is. Thank you very much, Mr. John. Morning. I'm Don McGraw and I'm here representing John Harrell. John owns about 220 acres on Beria Road that kind of wraps around the movie town facility over there. And he's seeking to reszone the front 13.35 acres C2 with a conditional use for RV parking and such. And it probably have some storage units similar to the movie town over there. And like everybody else, everything around him has been reszone. The property to the west of him's I2 move town C2 and then the properties across the road are either I2 or C2. So it already connects to the park. It it joins and move it move it down. This is this is going to be this is actually two separate requests. First of all, you've got the reszoning. If you see fit to approve that, then the

conditional use would come into play. And then obviously, just like we did here, they still got site plan and all that type stuff. But it's not a extension of Mickey. No, it's separate ownership. questions. The opposition I entertain a motion on the reszone. On the reszone motion and properly second. All in favor? All right. Now for the conditional use. Conditional use. Need a motion. Motion. So with properly second. All in favor. Thank you, sir. Thank you. All right. McMillan Road LLC. My name is Neil Bryant. I'm here for the petitioner. And my visuals are running late and y'all are running really fast this morning. So, they will be here at some point during my presentation. In the meantime, I do have Andy, I have full size that I can open up, show you. So, the the property that we're considering in our application this morning is 60.68 68 acres of undeveloped land. Uh it is on the west side of McMillan Road immediately north of Hathaway Lake subdivision. We're requesting that uh the property is currently zone R1. We're requesting it to be reszoneed to

R1B. So the lots will be minimum of 15,000 square feet. The development will have strict covenants require an HOA architectural review. There'll be an architecturally described and designed landscaped entrance to the property until the drymounted version gets here that water and sanitary sewer are available from Bear Creek. Uh the letter the will serve letter is not in the uh application that I have here. So, let's talk about the standards for resoning need and change in the neighborhood. There's a housing shortage nationwide. It's been going on for years. For March, MLS data shows that Madison County has a 25% absorption rate. four months of inventory. It's the highest it's been in years. It's increased over the last several years due to increased interest rates. Just a few years ago, we were sitting at one month of inventory for a very long time. When rates come down, as they're going to, they currently are, and they're going to go down more, we're going to be in a bind because we don't have the inventory to meet demand. Ideally, we would have six months of inventory. That's what the markets look at to say it's a normal

stabilized market for real estate. So, that's where we are now. But what about in the future? What about population growth? The population of Madison County in 2022 was 111,113. That's up 16.3% from 2010 when the population was 95,546. During that same period, the US population grew only 7.7%. Mississippi's population decreased by 1%. Madison County is clearly ahead of everybody else in Mississippi. Page 34 of Madison County Comprehensive Plan states as follows. Quote, "Using a projected persons per household ratio of 2.62 and applying it to the projected increase in the county's population of 54,130 by 2040. Madison County will need an additional 20,660 dwelling units by 2040. In the first quarter of this year, Madison County issued 95 permits. If that rate holds for the rest of the year, that will be 380 permits for the year. The county must average over a thousand permits per year to meet the goals set out in the comprehensive plan. If we maintain the current rate of development, it puts the county at less than half the new home needed new homes by 2040. Madison County is experiencing growth, as you all know, because it's a leader in economic development and job growth in Mississippi. Amazon's adding a thousand jobs with the AWS plant, $10 billion investment that will bring complimentary employers just like Nissan did years ago. Clark Beverage is adding 325 jobs, not to mention the jobs created by small businesses. SBA estimates that small businesses account for 46.4% of all private sector jobs. Now, I'm a real estate lawyer. The

majority of the work I do is in Madison County for small businesses. Small businesses that are buying, selling, leasing, or financing property. Everybody wants to be in Madison. Everybody in business and therefore where they live, they want to be in Madison County. The people are coming. The only question is, is Madison County going to be ready? One final point on the issue of need. There's little to no, like we said, this property is zoned R1. There's little to no demand for planned developments with estate lots of two acres or more. The vast majority of people cannot afford it as housing prices have increased substantially in the last few years. Since 2011, median home prices have roughly doubled. I'm going to hand this out to you. This is the April report from Central Mississippi Realtors. U based on March numbers absorption rates median home prices Mississippi the trends are not good they indicate that county cannot keep up with the demand that is here or that is coming. People can't afford twoacre lots in a planned unit subdivision. It simply costs too much. Those who can afford it usually don't want to be in a planned unit development. They they don't want to be there. They want acreage. They want to be out. They want to be left alone. They certainly don't want covenants with their neighbors telling them what they can and can't do. If R1 developments had a viable market, I assure you our clients would build them, but it's just not the case. It's not happening. So, moving from need to

change in the character of the neighborhood. This map, this map that looks really good, drymounted, and it's not here. This is the neighborhood you're talking all those rooftops are either R2 or R2 with a per overlay. None of those developments are in fact any classific Right. Exactly. These are all R1 homes. Not right here. Not on this map. That's the neighborhood. It's already been developed. as

with not certainly not R1. The benefit to this, the benefit to us reszoning for an R1B is it provides a transitionary area between the R1 here and this map you could go bigger for two miles this direction on the north side of the road. It's all R2. All the way south of the road, south of Stribbling, all the way to Buckstep Road R2. North of this property is all R1 or A1 all the way to the big black river. Okay, this is a very good transition. Same thing here all the way to Chestnut Hill. my heels. So, so yeah, that's as I was saying adjacent to the south, Hathaway Lake is a pud or two underlying classification. To the east, Camden Lake, Camden Ridge, Camden Point, Villages, Camden Crossing, Herren's Bay, Bell Me are all R2 with putt overlays. To the south, across Driven Low, Devlin Springs, and Johnstone putts. Silverleaf is straight R2, no overlay, no putt. To the south, everything is put or purred for over a mile to Gluckstat Road. To the west, everything is R1 for over a mile until you get to Chestnut Hill.

So summary, we ask this commission recommend the board of supervisors approve our application for reszoning an interim order that amends the land use map of the comprehensive plan to moderate or medium density and amends the zoning map to reclassify this property from R1 to R1B. Happy to answer any questions if I can. You said it's zoned R1 north, but are there any actual developments that are R1? There are homes there's homes scattered through there that this property was in 2019 when the zoning map the zoning ordinance was amended and the zoning map was amended. The county did it in response to a change that the legislature had made. They had passed a statute that said counties could not start to try to control what's going on in agriculturally zoned property. And so the county said well that the county looked at areas that were zoned A1 in growth paths and put them all in R1 across the board. Uh that's in the minutes of the meeting where it was adopted. Mr. Weeks and representative from CMPDD, that's what they said. Um, R1 was never intended to be permanent in the areas out in in Madison County where they are R1. That was not the that was not the purpose of making them R1. It was to keep a hand on the wheel of how the property was used. That's the reason it was done. So, we're simply asking for this property to be resone to not even to R2 higher density. These lots are bigger than Haway Lake. Um, the houses probably. We're not sure about that yet. But you're talking about larger lots, very nice homes. What part are you not sure about? I'm sorry. Well, just because we're not to the final design yet. I I can't tell you. They're 2,000 ft to 2200 feet. I just don't know yet. We're not at that stage. That was my You

don't know the Not yet. Not Not yet. Uh we're requesting a 2,000 foot minimum. So, um that's the minimum in uh Haway Lake, I believe, is 1900 in their covenants. So, Andy, if they're not certain of the square footage of the houses, how does that work going forward? If we were to approve this, do they have to come back? Uh you can do that today if you wanted conditional reasoning. Um as as far as a minimum, you know, this has come up numerous times here before ings with regard to the to the minimum square footage of the houses. U so that's that's up to you guys. Um while we're on that topic and we've been talking about R1, R1B, R2, PUD, PER, all that, let me just give you a little bit of information on that. So under the ordinance, straight R1 zoning requires a minimum square footage of the lots of two acres. R1B uh straight R1B is a minimum lot size of 15,000 square feet. Straight R2 zoning requires minimum lot size of 10,500. Okay. Now, when you put a PUD or we don't put PUDS on top of them anymore, those are old. If you put a purd on top of that, there is no minimum lot size, but that's done by a calcul It's kind of complicated, but there's actually an example, and I think the example here is in the ordinances R1B. Um, you take the total square footage of the development, which in this instance, I think he said was 60.68

acres. Then you um have to factor in your uh green space, you know, any lakes, ponds, all that type of thing divided by a specific quotient that is given in the in the ordinance. That's what gives you the total number of lots that you can have. But again, taken into factor green space and all that. And then you still have to abide by the setback requirements of those lots in that particular district, the underlying zoning district. That's going to really tell you how big your lot size could be. So they may be confused and that's kind of a lot of information. It's variable, but it's not applicable here. No, he's asking for straight R1, but this is straight minimum 15,000 here. Not the PUD stuff that I was just talking about. No, I just mentioned it because PUD has been mentioned when he was referring Yeah, to Andy's point, that means that the lots in those all those subdivisions around it could on average if you did an average of all those lots could be less than the 10,500 that they're underlying classification and in many cases they are because that's why you get a purd and and right purd puds are no longer granted. Perds are, but they are they still exist out there. So when those lots are developed, if you go out there and measure them all, you're probably not going to get 10,500 square feet on average for those lots because it factors in common area screen space. That is not what we're doing here. This is we're asking for straight R1B. Every lot will be minimum 15,000 square feet. And you're saying the condition of this approval could be of square footage minimum on the home. Yes. That's going to be ultimately controlled by their covenants. Um county is not right or enforced covenants, but you do have the ability here today to put a minimum square footage on on any house that could be

built in there. A lot of times that's done. I don't know that it would really apply here, but larger tracks sometimes are done in phases. You know, phase one may be a different size house than phase two, three, how that goes. But yeah, to answer your question, yeah, you could you could condition the reszoning on a minimum square footage lot size. I mean, house size. Did you say you don't have an idea of that at this point? Just that's surprising to me. So, we're Yeah. Yes. I mean, we Well, I don't know of what we're going to be willing to be locked into. Um, right now in our discussions, we're talking about minimum square footage in the covenants of 2,000 square feet with plans to build somewhat larger than that, but not hamstring ourselves in the process. But we're not going to go out there and, you know, construct 15,000 square foot lots just to put 1700 foot houses on them. That wouldn't make any sense. In fact, we would go bankrupt doing that. We're gonna have to build bigger houses. Yeah, Blake Crest is the petitioner. Uh, let me address the So, asking for the minimums. I'm sorry, what was your name? Blake Crest. So, in asking for the 2,000 square foot minimum, these lots and the prices are going to be in the 80s. So, 2,000 is kind of like the the bottom number. We we're looking at the 22 to 2400's kind of the the spot that we're intending because if you got an 80 $85,000 lot, you're going to have a 400 plus. These will be 425 to 475 is kind of the range of the the pricing on the houses. Um, but when you

do I've got two other neighborhoods within similar distance that are 2200 minimums and they're 20 everything goes about 150 ft bigger than where you set your minimums just the way the architects work and the way but we are asking for 2,000 I think Hathaway was actually 1,800 in the beginning and went to 1900 I think the last couple of phases. But most of those houses are bigger than that. They're 23s, 24s. Um, and uh, but with the price of the lots being in the 80s, we're going to have to be above that two, you know, you're going to have to start at 2,000 ft. Um, but we don't have like sets of plans to show you or anything like that. Not not at this stage. Any other questions? Not right now. The opposition. Good morning, Mr. Chairman and members of the commission. My name is Tim Anzenberger and my wife and Leah Katherine and I are lawyers, but we're just representing ourselves today. We live at 128 Brisco Street, which is on um in Hathaway Lake and it directly abuts the property line of the proposed um track to be reszoned in the proposed development by the petitioner. We have um prepared a formal protest that we submitted to the board attorney And we have obtained joiners in that

protest from over 20% of the lot owners that surround this tract. Um, and I have with me today there are about, by my count, there are 29 lots that surround this tract. 30 U possibly. I'm just not sure because I haven't done a survey myself uh representing myself to go out and see if one of these lots, but either way, we've got 16 joiners in the protest. um one of which I received this morning, so I attached it to the copy I'd like to submit to the minutes. And then for everyone else, I have copies of the protest and the joiners um for the commission. Tim, just a question. I know you you submitted and have been submitting, you know, the protest and the joiners to me. Is this is this all of them that you have to date? I just want to make sure I've got everything that you want in it is except for the one that I received this morning. Okay. You you can just so it's noted here. He's got another one. He's going to send that to me. I'm going to add that to the minutes as well. But it's included. The last one. It's included in this one right here. It's the very last one. Thank you. Um, I think I'll just begin by giving a little bit of context to uh why we're protesting, why we're here, and then I'll I'll address the standard that the petitioner raised um as well and um some of the things that were brought up during his presentation. um the the proposed neighborhood and you can see um in the development plans that that were passed around on Brisco Street. We purchased that house there because of where it was located. It

abuts our one residential estate land. I mean, it's rural. It's undeveloped. And if it were be if it were to be developed, it would be a farm. It'd be a twoacre farm or a twoacre large lot. you can talk to all of the other residents on Brisco Street, whether they abut that property or whether they're on the other side. And that's why they ch they chose that location, too. It's because it's a beautiful place to live and it is north of where all the other development is going on in Gluxat along Boseman and some of the neighborhoods that the petitioner mentioned. That's why we chose the home. Now, the proposed reszoning and development is going to put a new neighborhood where currently all the homes on Brisco Street look uh over beautiful property. It's going to put homes directly behind our homes where we'll be looking down into people's back windows. And it doesn't matter if the homes are 1,800 square feet or 2500 square ft. The house is going to be right there because the lot sizes are uh 15,000 square feet. That's 500 square feet bigger than the lots on Brisco Street anyways. That's that's really nothing. Um, and so that's the concern. The residents of Brisco Street bought these properties and enjoy living there because of the character of the land today. We live right on the edge of an R1 buffer zone. Uh, that's that's beautiful and it's it's part of the character of Madison County and that's why there are so many residents that showed up here today to protest and that joined in the protest. Now, let's turn to the standard. I know the commission's well-versed in the standard, but I would think it's a great place to start because it sort of sets the stage for any reasonzoning or any legal proceeding. The Mississippi Supreme Court has made clear year after year when they address zoning issues that there is a strong presumption that current zoning is meant to be permanent and it's presumed to be

reasonable and for the public good as it is. And that's why a petitioner has to come before the board and show a heavy burden. They have to show by clear and convincing evidence a substantial change in the character of the area to be reszoned. And there's needs to be a public need. You need to have both. And I don't think I heard that today. And I can explain why. Let's talk about the substantial change to the area. There has not been a substantial change to the area to be reszoned. the area to be reszoned, which is north of Brisco Street to Highway 22, um, and then west of McMillan Road. All of that area has been and is R1 estate residential land, and it abuts agricultural land. That's consistent with the county's plan that it's a buffer zone between all of the development we've seen south of Hathaway Lake. It provides that that buffer zone and that buffer zone has not changed. You may have seen you I think we heard about developments going on south of Hathaway Lake to the east of Hathaway Lake. Well, sure those areas are already zoned for um residential for moderate or um high density homes. So, of course, they're going to be developed. But we're talking about this area. This is all R1 going towards flora or agricultural. There's been no change to that. Second, there is no public need right now to reszone this tract of land. We would submit, me and the people that have joined the petition, that there's actually a public need not to keep it as it is. If you looked at chapter three of the land use plan's objectives, it says, quote, "The objective is to maintain large minimum lot sizes in agricultural areas and to

utilize the residential estate classification, R1, as a buffer between agricultural lands and higher density suburban development." The plan emphasizes that Madison County includes many rural areas like this, like we abut. So there is quote a need to protect the rural nature of these areas from encroachment of higher density or more intensive uses that are normally associated with the more urbanized area. The plan expressly provides that R1 tracks quote should remain residential estates due to their proximity to existing large lot subdivisions. The pres preservation of these neighborhoods for large lot developments is important in order to protect property value of people living in existing residential estate subdivisions or other large lot developments. Those portions of the county's plan describe this tract exactly. It's an R1 tract. It's a buffer between all of the development that's going on south of it and the agricultural land to the north of it above Highway 22 and moving out towards Florida. It protects the property values of the current homeowners who are here before you today. I think it's important that the plan has as what it calls a guiding principle that the plan is to protect the community's unique natural assets. And I would submit to you that Madison County's unique natural asset is that there are plenty of tracks of beautiful undeveloped or R1 estate residential land. Uh and that's why we all chose to live on this street. That's why a lot of people love moving out to Madison County. If we continue developing and encroaching and reszoning R1 residential and deleting some of our agricultural lands, we are taking away that unique

asset and that character of Madison County. And I believe um the petitioner showed you the current map of all the neighborhoods that are sort of abudding this zone. Well, when you do a fly over, you're starting to see more and more just tracks of cookie cutter homes. And if we allow this development uh and to remove some of our R1 land, it's just going to keep going like that. I mean, when's it when's it going to end? I think Madison County is better when it's got agricultural land and not all these these cookie cutter maps everywhere. We heard about the need for housing. Well, based on the MLS data that I was looking at yesterday, there are already 780 homes for sale in Madison County. It's a buyer market. There's currently an over supply today. Homes are currently sitting on the market for 60 days or more, which is up from last year. And there's already subdivision after subdivision going up along Boseman Road uh and around Gluxat. I mean, we all know that driving around. There's sub subdivisions popping up all over the place down there. Last year, Mr. Crest uh the petitioner reszoned two large tracks off Clarkdale Road from R1 to R2 to build 800 new homes. And if you look at the county's land use plan, there are large swats of undeveloped land east and west of Gluxat that the county has designated as these would be good spots for moderate to high density neighborhoods and it's currently undeveloped. So why not develop there where the county has indicated there's a need and it should be reszoned and developed. Then take away um the R1 land that serves as the buffer between the high density and the agriculture. I don't think I need to say much about traffic. If you've driven on Stribbling Road or Boseman Road or 46 463 trying to get kids to school or get to work, it's a complete disaster. I know Stribbling Road, the plan's in place to widen it, but um if you look at the report that was just submitted to the Madison County

Business League and Foundation in April, the current schedule is to bid it out in 2027. So, that's what's going to be bid out. And we know construction always takes longer than anticipated. Uh they haven't even finished the environmental report, but what they found so far is that there's a significant amount of Yazu clay west of McMillan Road and uh some deposits east of McMillan Road. So I'm sure once construction starts, it's going to um take a lot longer than currently anticipated. And even if you do uh expand Stribbling Road, that just gets you to 463 and Catlet Road faster, which is where the real traffic starts. I don't think I need to say much about the schools, too. Anytime you're adding homes, you're putting a burden on Madison County schools, larger classrooms. Um, and I I think that speaks for itself. me and the other um petitioners that or those that joined our petition, we asked that the commission recommend that this petition be denied. If there is some need in Madison County for residential land, there are plenty of other places already zoned for that or that are in the county's land use plan to be done. We don't need it here. We need to keep this land a buffer. We need to keep it beautiful. Build somewhere else. Build in Glugstat. There's pl there's plenty of opportunities for that. Thank you. Any questions? Any other opposition? Mr. Mr. Chairman and members of the commission, my name is Leah Katherine Anenberger and I'm one of the residents that is directly affected by the petition to reszone the wooden area directed right behind our house and I respectfully ask that you deny petitioner's request to reszone this

area due to failing to meet the established legal standards. Um reszoning is a drastic measure and it's justifiable only under limited and specific circumstances and case law provides that uh zoning measures are invalid when public interest is slight and the private party will suffer great injury. One who plans and use their property in accordance with existing zoning regulations is entitled to assume that those regulations will not be altered to their detriment and the effect of a regulation on the land values is a proper element to consider when looking at the standard. For myself and indeed many of our neighbors, the existing zoning played a crucial role in our decision to purchase our home. Uh for us personally, after a lengthy and meticulous search of many different areas in Madison, we settled on Haway Lake due to its quiet surroundings, mature developed trees, and space between the neighborhoods. And we only viewed properties that did not back up to a neighbor. And a key factor in our decision-making process was that assurance that our property would not directly abut another residence. We specifically inquired about the land behind our property prior to making an offer and we were informed it was zoned and classified as an R1 property and that assurance was a significant factor in our investment. When you purchase a property based on the zoning that existed that time, you expect and have a legitimate expectation that zoning will remain as is. And that is a significant factor in considering and purchasing any type of property. The wooded area behind our home is unique and it's an intricral feature that defines the very character of our neighborhood and home. It's unobstructed and peaceful and to permit its destruction would be profoundly

detrimental not only to the aesthetic appeal of our community but also the tangible value of our property and this is not an isolated concern. The surrounding properties will certainly suffer a similar devaluation. Our back porch view to these woods is the best and most used feature of our home. And as my husband said, it's the reason we bought our house. It's where we sit outside every weekend with our family. It's peaceful. It's quiet. And it's private. We watch and listen to nature. Our children play outside undisturbed. It's our break from the stresses of work. We often see, you know, deer and rabbit and turkeys. And we have our beloved hummingbirds that fly in from the trees in the forest that come back every year. Uh the forest provides substantial shade during the summer. And in the summers, we also catch and release fireflies that also live in that forest. The land behind our home is intricral to the quality of life we sought and found in this neighborhood. And we purchased our home precisely because of these feelings, that view, and that connection. and our property values are intrinsically linked to the existence of this uninhabited space behind our homes. We paid a premium to enjoy this privacy, quietness, and view. And resoning would directly undermine the cherished aspects of our community and value to our homes by the increased noise and traffic, less space, losing that natural landscape that drew us to this home, and adding to an already oversaturated housing market. Um there is no shortage of houses in our area. I submit to you all I have a print out of um the recent search that I did on realtor.com. Apologies for not having enough. Our home printer ran out of ink. Um but the surrounding area just for Stribbling Lake and Hathaway, there are over 200 homes for sale right now. And that directly undermines any claim of a pressing public need for additional

residential development. and an influx of new homes is only going to further saturate the market and drive down the value of the existing properties. Um, in conclusion, Mr. Chairman and members of the commission, the petitioner has failed to meet the burden of demonstrating either a mistake in the original zoning or a substantial change compelling resoning. The proposed change would negatively impact the character of our neighborhood, depreciate our property values, exacerbate existing traffic, and is not supported by any demonstrable public need or interest. And we respectfully urge the commission to deny this zoning request and uphold the integrity of our community's established zoning plan. Thank you. Just as a matter of clarity, what what is this part of the report that you said you started to print out and ran out of ink? Yes. Okay. All right. Want to make sure that's why they're signing out. Hey, my name is Shay Landry. I live at 122 Brisco Street. I have sort of a unique uh experience. The reason we bought our home is because of the land that abuts uh our property. Um uh my story being unique in that I have a daughter who has special needs um who attends a special needs school and often times needs time. She she loves being

outside, but oftentimes she needs time outside without the over stimulation um that is sometimes on the front end of my house. So, it is wonderful and it was the reason we bought this house was so that she could spend time outside and not have the over stimulation of having a house directly behind ours. And so she gets to go out there and she gets to enjoy the wildlife. Um, if needed, I can provide many, many pictures I have for my camera I have mounted to my fence of dozens of deer and probably 30 turkey that come in every single day to my house and she gets to enjoy that. Um, and so I implore of y'all not to grant this reasonzoning. Um, if nothing else, for a very selfish reason, for my daughter, who also, by the way, is a cancer survivor. Um, so again, I implore y'all not to reszone this land. Please allow my daughter time to spend outside whenever she doesn't need the over stimulation, but she can still get outside and be a four-year-old. Um, thank you all very much for your time. Good morning. My name is Ricky Ble and my wife Rita is here with me today. We live at 130 Brisco Street, which uh we're neighbors to Tim and Leah Katherine, the attorneys who are representing themselves. We've lived at 130 Brisco for 11 years. And I just want to echo the sentiments of my neighbors regarding the aesthetic beauty of the land that's behind us. Uh that's one of the reasons too why we bought that particular property. But let me add u another

reason. Um 35 years ago, 31 years ago, my wife and I moved to Flora, Mississippi, where I became the pastor at First Baptist Church of Florida. and we fell in love with Madison County. Never thought I would leave until 2007, God called me to New Albany, Mississippi, where I became the pastor at First Baptist Church of New Albany. Served there for six and a half years, and in 2013, I was offered a position with the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board, which I ultimately took, which caused us to move back to the Madison County area. We were excited. We love the amenities of Madison County and all that it offers. But when we began to look for a place to live, we didn't want to move back to Florida because as a former pastor, I didn't want to infringe on my successor, the person who came after me as the pastor of that church. So, we began to look around and um looked at various spots and ultimately settled on Hathaway Lake in that particular property because of of its beauty. But we we've got a problem of saturation in our area. And it goes without saying, depending on what time of the day you live, I live 21 miles from my office in downtown Jackson. And it can take me anywhere from 35 to 45 minutes to travel 21 miles. And I can't imagine if you reszone this property, allowed that to happen, and these homes went in and you add another 100, 105 lots, whatever it's going to be, and every one of these homes is going to

have two cars or more and more cars trying to merge onto Stribbling and Catlet and Boseman and and what more of a hassle is it going to be? Is it going to take me an hour then to get to my office? U so for reasons that may be selfish on my part because the aesthetic beauty, but also for personal reasons pertaining to my work and where I live and trying to get to the office. I would ask that you deny the petition petitioner's request and that you keep this property zoned as it is. Uh we love it where we are and we would like for it to remain just as it is. Thank you so very much. I wasn't I wasn't nervous until I saw an on air sign over there. Am I on some kind of camera or something? We we live stream our Okay. My name is Ted Lewis. My wife and I, Debbie, live at 104 Brisco. We directly above the proposed land that's in question. We too along with everybody I know on that side of the street bought that property and that home. We retired in 2018. Both of us. We were going to buy another property, but we ended up buying this one for that one specific reason. Nobody would be behind us because it was zoned commercial. I mean zoned for agricultural like it is now. The petitioner is asking that it be reszoned if I understand R1B which would be

15,000 to me 15,000 proposed lots or the proposed size of the home square footage or the proposed value of the home once built is a mute point. Regardless of the size of the lot or the home, I would be looking directly into the back door of my neighbor, which is the very reason not having that when we bought that property in the first place. Uh we're both in our 70s. My wife loves that porch. If this happens and they build back there, my wife is going to move. Want to move. I'm older than dirt. I don't want to do that. Uh I'm respectfully asking this commission uh to leave that property the way it is now. That's the very reason a whole lot of people made the decisions to do what they did and that would change everything. Thank you. Anyone else? Can I see the hands of those who are with the opposition? If there's no one else in opposition, um I'm not sure I don't have a list of all the objections. If there are objections, there are some I can address. Uh I've previously addressed uh the argument that it is true that zoning is presumed to be permanent. However, it is very clear from the minutes of the board of supervisors what the actual purpose of reszoning this property and all the

property that went from A1 to R1 in 2019 was. It's clearly not meant to be permanent. Mr. Weeks even says in the record, it is not meant to be permanent. It's zone to R1 because the least restrictive residential classification and if property owners want a higher density they can come back and request that which is what we're doing. Um there's also the point that the comprehensive plan uh Mr. Anenberger mentioned what we're doing is not in conformity with the future land use map of the comprehensive plan. That is true. That is why we're requesting that it be amended so we can stay in compliance with the statute that requires the two to be the same. Uh it's also true that the comprehensive plan itself says it should be revisited and updated every 5 to seven years and we are now at the six-year mark and I'm not sure if that process is underway but the comprehensive plan recognizes situations like this. Neighborhoods change as developments happen over time. Uh with respect, I am I am deeply sorry and I do feel for everyone who bought a house in that subdivision in reliance that this property was always going to be wooded and undeveloped. Um I I do I do feel that way especially for the gentleman who has a special needs daughter. I have a special needs son. Um so I understand that but that that doesn't really exist in law. you don't have visual easements over other people's property and that's not a reasonable reliance when you buy property to assume that an adjoining land owner can never or will never do anything with their property. So I don't know what which of the objections the commissioners would

would like petitioner to respond to. Um I have a question. So it's already designated R1 so it can be develop but just in two acre lots versus 15,000. That's correct. Under it current zoning which as Neil has described how it got res it probably will be developed. So, I guess the solution here is to find some sort of buffer, right, to create something that would and that's what we're trying to do by developing an R1B subdivision. We're not going to develop an R1 subdivision. No, nobody is. It's not just us. It's not going to happen. Uh there's you got 60 60 acres, twoacre lot minimums, 30 lots. This is what does lots sell for, Blake? 200,000 plus. Yeah. 200,000 plus uh on that that there's simply not a market for that. Um and that's for the lot. 200,000 for the lot. Uh so we're actually offering up R1B as a buffer. That is the the concession to have larger density lots than virtually anything that's right there in that immediate area. When I say buffer, I mean this area. It looks like there's some wooded areas that you guys have proposed around that neighborhood to serve as a buffer between the subdivision. So, one thing that we I'll let Mr. Crest speak to this. Uh talk well, let's talk about that again. Lake Crest. Uh we do have a one proposal that has a 25 foot

buffer that would be conditional upon Hathaway Lake accepting that land. Um it it if we this plan does not show that, but it would be along Brisco, the people that live along Brisco, but the condition would be that Hathaway Lake Homeowners Association accepted the 25 foot buffer and maintained it. Um So you would put that on to Hathaway Lake? I would for the benefit of them. It wouldn't be my benefit. It would be for the benefit of Hathaway Lake. So I would lose a couple of lots to do that, but I would be willing to do it if that and it would create a buffer between the two that Hathaway Lake would control. And what lots would you be losing? Well, I've got this. I'll show it to you. So in this bottom corner it's just 20 25 ft between the on our south border. Yeah, I have a one for everybody. It just reduces it from 105 to 103. Yeah. And that goes completely. Yes. And there's a currently in on Long Brisco there is a drainage common area that Hathaway Lake could access this 25 ft buffer to maintain it. And maintaining doesn't

there's not a whole lot to maintain. It's pretty wooded. The issue becomes when, as they well know, we've had a lot of dead trees lately and so, you know, when it something happens in that buffer, Hathaway Lake needs to be able to maintain it. And they have not agreed to this. This was just a a proposal that we created just in case there was a discussion about buffer that we would be willing to give. I mean, just give it to them. Just give them not even have that conversation. No. No. that is and so that is not it's something I'm willing to do but it's not something that Hathaway Lake has anything to do with. It would have to be just you know presented to them. It's would not be my first choice because the buffers tend to to be a maintenance problem. You know when you have dead trees or you have things that need to be done in there. In this case they do have access to it though. So it would work if they wanted to. I just have no idea whether that's something that their association is willing to do. Have you met with them? You not about the buffer? No. But and I as he's this is first I've heard of this as well. You got to remember multi-step process here. The only thing that they're asking for today is resoning. Okay. So this this buffer all that would come at the platting phase. So when he submitted his plat, it could very well contain this 25 foot buffer, but we you guys don't have the ability to force Hathaway Lake to take this property. Neither does developer, you know, quite frankly. Um, it is an option, you know, that that I think should be considered, but again, back to the central point, the only thing that you're doing here today

is the reasoning issue. This would come and be shown if it if it does in fact occur at the platting. So we couldn't ultimately resone with that condition if it was tabled and they were I don't I don't think that you have the ability to condition. You don't have that the ability to force that on halfway or force Mr. Press at this point. I don't think because Hathaway has doesn't have any knowledge of that and I'm not saying that they wouldn't accept it, but I have no idea whether or not they would. And so it doesn't doesn't need to be a condition of this particular meeting, but I I would be happy to have that discussion if we move forward, you know. So it hadn't been a conversation with the home owners. Well, with the board about the project. Yeah. Just that it was we were planning on trying to reszone, but didn't and showed them this plan. And then as I got into a little bit deeper, um, we came up with an alternate version just in case the subject of a buffer came up for this very reason, but it has not been discussed with that particular part of this has not been discussed with Hathaway Lake, but certainly can. I don't know that the people here before you today that that 25 ft is going to make a whole lot of difference to them. I mean, I'm willing to do it. I just don't think you're going to find that the opposition that's here today that that's going to be what satisfies them. Um, and but I'm willing to have that conversation with Hathaway Lake should we move forward. Okay. Anyone else?

So, as Mr. Crest did mention, we did have a lot of dead trees. Um, so many in fact, from the drought two years ago that the buffer is a moot point. Um, so many trees died and have been cut down since then that uh my my friend Mr. Pill Mr. Pillow, my realtor, from his seat to you is about 25 ft. Um, there are so few trees there now because most of them have either fallen or have had to been cut down because they were dead. um that there is no buffer in the line of sight. Um do you see what I'm saying? Right. So 25 ft means nothing. Um this isn't there. Is that what you're saying? Oh, well I just I want to be really clear. Oh, no, no, no. Absolutely. So this nice little green area right here uh is essentially a row of pine trees. Okay. Now, you know how pine trees grow, right? So, when any limb falls, nothing grows beneath that with a pine tree. We're talking very, very tall pine trees. So, all of the foliage is 100 ft in the air. Okay? So, the hardwoods don't start until way back here. So, this 25 foot buffer is all pine trees. Okay? Um, so it's it's a moot point. There is no buffer. Okay? Not from the line of sight perspective. If I may, Mr. Chairman, to address the the buffer issue, that's the first time I've heard anything about the buffer. My concern is this, that if the zoning reszoning is approved, that's done. And none of this these offers of buffers or anything are binding. So, it's going to be sort of subject to the Wild Wild

West. But the land's already reszoned um no longer R1. um if you deal with the homeowners association, you know, it can be very difficult to get anything done, including, you know, what kind of grass you're going to grow around the pool. So, um I just worry if it's subject to homeowner association approval, that adds almost a political layer to things. I can't even imagine how difficult it might be. But I'm saying it was never brought up before. It's not binding. So, if it's reszoned, it's reszoned and that's over with. Um, and I will say, yes, it was R1, it could be developed, but if it's developed, we're talking those minimum two acre lots. So, we're talking like farms and stuff. So, it's still the same same kind of background we would enjoy. And that's what I would say about that. Entertain motion. So these houses on Brisco are immediately say this proposed buffer existed or could exist. They're immediately like placed beyond that buffer. I can speak to that. So you would have 20 and again this is would be subject to Haway Lake taking the 25 ft but assuming there you would have 150 foot lots and then you would have a rear setback of 40T. So you would be 40 past the 20 right? So you would be 65 feet and then whatever their setbacks are which were 25 or 30 feet you're talking about 100 feet is is where they would be. And you know again we were we would move create a larger setback to

create more space and I don't have any problem agreeing to that instead of 25 make it a 40 foot rear setback on those 150 foot deep lots but you're talking 100 feet between the back of one house and the back of another. And Andy, that goes to who to make that decision. That's past us once we resone. Who? I mean, to his point, who? No, you can you can you can um I'll just add if I don't mind. If you don't mind, these buffers are a red herring. There's no guarantee that Mr. Crest will do them. There's just no guarantee he'll do them. He can say anything he wants to get you to change this zoning. He'll say anything you want to hear to get him to do that. I live at 120 Brisco. This property backs up right to my house, but he'll say anything to get this changed. Whether it's a buffer of 25 ft, now it's 100. Will it be 200 or 300? Nothing. Will it He will say anything. And he runs our HOA, so he'll say anything he can to get you to change it. What size are your lots? My lot. We're a fourbedroom house. We have 200 We have 2 344. I looked at that yesterday, Dr. The average lots 85 by 135. I'm sorry. Uh those those lots on Brisco that back up to this are all just shy of 12,000 feet 115 11 anywhere from 11 to none of them are 12,000 but they're 11 upwards of 115 plus oh so these are anchored lots square footage no they're 85 by 135s

they're 11,475 ft our lots are 15,000 square feet they're 25% bigger than the lots that are people are all in opposition today Um, and I I totally disagree with the gentleman. I will if I tell you that I'm going to do something, I'm going to do it. Um, I don't again don't think that the 25 ft is going to satisfy anyone. And I don't know that Hathaway would agree to it anyway, but I would agree to it. And I I wouldn't agree to 100 foot. I mean, I wouldn't. So there are limits to what I'm willing to do and there is no limit to keep in my word. So don't appreciate the comments. It's not who I am. But I will do what I say I'm going to do. And if look but that's only if we move forward. If we don't then I understand. Uh I'm but I am willing to offer that to them if they were willing to ex if Hathaway was willing to accept it. And I agree with this gentleman. That's not necessarily an easy thing to get done because you have to get 67% of that group probably to accept it. And so, you know, it's not a simple hurdle to get over, but it's something I'm certainly willing to pursue if we were to move forward. And to the point, I think that I was I was responding to a question that was asked. Yeah. What whatever conditions that it might be on reszoning, those are absolutely enforceable. Uh again, you're at the resoning phase, but there's several other steps that have got to be done. approval and all that that have to be on

there. And not saying that he would, but if he if he breaches any agreement in the interim, don't go forward. He could approve this reasoning with the condition of the 25 foot. Yes, but you you can't make halfway lake taken. Mr. Press is telling you he he would agree to that. But you can't make and quite frank frankly Mr. Crest can't make halfway lake take control of maintenance of that. You can certainly, and I think Blake alluded to it, uh, put a put a condition on there as to the setbacks on the rear lights. Okay. Willing to offer the buffer. I just notic. That's right. And hold on one second here. That's why I was asking if should we not table it and let them have that conversation and see if it's something like even open to because that would answer the question, right? you you can do you can do whatever you like to do. That's where I that's how I feel because I feel like I don't I don't have everything within the scope that I need to make that right decision. And I mean this specifically concerns, you know, my area. So specifically uh I put forth a motion to I don't feel like I have everything I need to make the decision and I'm sorry until they can have a conversation. Motion is on the floor. Motion to second. All in favor? Eyes have table.

Motion to close public hearing. All in favor? Motion for June date. 12. Second favor. Motion to adjurnn.