Fayette County board opens hearing on variance to cut frontage requirement for Pardee parcel

The Fayette County Board of Zoning Appeals opened a public hearing on VCA 25-04, a variance request by Pardee Resources Company (doing business as Pardee Timber) to reduce the required minimum frontage on State Route 639 from 300 feet to 100 feet for the parcel identified as tax map 28 section 10 parcel 1. The applicant told the board the change would allow the property owner to subdivide the parcel into five lots, four smaller lots plus a roughly 115-acre residual parcel.

The request matters to nearby residents because it could enable sale and future development of timberland that neighbors say contributes to the county's rural character. "If the company that purchased the property purchased it for timbering and then they never timbered the company, then they didn't actually purchase it to timber," public commenter Patty Rainer said during the hearing, adding she was "not in favor of the development at all." The board heard questions about traffic safety on Longacre Road (State Route 639), availability of water and sewer, and whether rollback tax…