Planners Deny Sellers Road Subdivision

LYNN KUTTER ENTERPRISE-LEADER Farmington Planning Commission had standing-room only at its Feb. 20 meeting. Residents showed up to speak out against two items on the agenda: a preliminary plat for a residential subdivision on Sellers Road and a large-scale development plan for a new city public works building to be located on the northern edge of Creekside Park.
LYNN KUTTER ENTERPRISE-LEADER Farmington Planning Commission had standing-room only at its Feb. 20 meeting. Residents showed up to speak out against two items on the agenda: a preliminary plat for a residential subdivision on Sellers Road and a large-scale development plan for a new city public works building to be located on the northern edge of Creekside Park.

FARMINGTON -- After hearing concerns about drainage issues from residents, Farmington Planning Commission voted 4-2 last week to deny a preliminary plat submitted for a single-family residence subdivision on Sellers Road.

Commissioners Jay Moore and Howard Carter voted in favor of the motion to approve the preliminary plat for a subdivision named Farmington Heights. Commission members Judy Horne, Bobby Wilson, Matt Hutcherson and Gerry Harris voted against the motion.

Ferdi Fourie, project engineer with Civil Design Engineers in Fayetteville, presented the preliminary plat on behalf of Lots 101, LLC. The plat proposed 125 lots on 39.86 acres on the south side of West Sellers Road. According to the plat, lot sizes ranged from 0.25 acre to 0.29 acre.

Thursday, Fourie said the city had asked him to resubmit the preliminary plat at the Commission's March 27 meeting. Fourie said he would meet with commissioners during a work session before then to explain the project.

"I wasn't very good at explaining the technical aspects of this," Fourie said.

Property owners adjacent to the proposed development addressed the Planning Commission at its Feb. 27 meeting objecting to the proposal.

Ashley Swaffar, who would live next door to the subdivision, spoke on behalf of eight property owners.

"Our biggest concern was storm water runoff," Swaffar said, noting the preliminary plat showed runoff would discharge into a pipe going underneath Sellers Road into Goose Creek.

"The creek already is at capacity without the discharge going into it," she said.

Another concern, Swaffar said, was increased traffic on Sellers Road from a subdivision with 125 lots.

"Sellers Road is a very narrow street and is already deteriorating," she added.

Comments from others included questions about the subdivision itself, such as the size of the homes and whether there would be covenants, and how the development would affect property values in the area.

Hutcherson said those who voted against the preliminary plat wanted clarification on the drainage plan and how runoff would affect Goose Creek. Another question, he said, was whether the subdivision needed a detention pond.

"We couldn't get concise information from the developer regarding that," Hutcherson said.

Horne said one reason she voted against the plat was because she was concerned how runoff would affect properties downstream.

Chris Brackett, the city's engineer, with McGoodwin, Williams and Yates in Fayetteville, said Farmington Heights was approved by the Planning Commission in 2007, and the drainage plan submitted is the same one approved 10 years by the city's engineer at the time. Brackett said he reviewed the drainage plan and agreed with it.

Nothing has changed in the area since 2007 that would make it necessary to amend the drainage plan, Brackett said.

The preliminary plat calls for runoff to drain into Goose Creek. The subdivision would not have a detention pond.

"It's better to let the subdivision release into the creek without detaining it," Brackett said last week after the meeting. "If you detain it, the peak will go at the same time that the creek is peaking."

Moore said he understood the concerns of other commission members about the drainage but felt the information was sufficient to vote in favor of the preliminary plat because of the approval 10 years ago and the reapproval by Brackett and Fourie.

"I felt there was enough there to go ahead and approve it," Moore said.

He pointed out the information presented by the engineer was lacking in specifics and that probably is why other commissioners had concerns. When developers are presenting plans to the Planning Commission, they need to have their "ducks in a row," Moore said.

General News on 03/08/2017