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Plan Commission approves Pennington Woods minor plat after notice confusion is addressed
Summary
The Plan Commission approved MIP 25-06, a three-lot minor plat on Pennington Road, after the applicant and staff explained discrepancies that had caused public-notice confusion; the owner said the plat was largely a defensive purchase and the parcels will remain largely undeveloped for now.
The Morgan County Plan Commission approved minor plat MIP 25-06 on May 12, a three-lot division off North Pennington Road for a property whose nearest mailing address is 10840 N. Pennington Road.
John Larson of Holloway Engineering presented the application on behalf of property owners Bryant and Joni Hopwood. He said the owners bought the property primarily to control how the adjoining land is developed and that the proposed three lots exceed the county’s two-acre minimum; Lot 1 is 2.23 acres with generous frontage, and the lots will front on Pennington Road so no private road is being dedicated.
Several residents asked questions and one neighbor raised concerns about an apparent mismatch between acreage listed in public notices and the actual acreage of the parcel. Ron (surname not specified) said the notices showed different acreages and that prompted his attendance. Larson explained that the parent parcel’s total acreage (the record description used in the public notice) can differ from the smaller acreage being platted because some acreage remains as a farm-field remainder and is not included in the subdivision acreage. "You've got a parent parcel... the subdivision only took up 6.6[acres]," Larson said, explaining the difference in published numbers.
Larson also described a dedicated easement for a shared subsurface drain through an existing swale to facilitate septic drainage and said the lots were not being actively marketed and may not be sold, consistent with the owners’ goal to preserve control.
After the public portion closed, a motion by Kenny Hill to approve MIP 25-06 was seconded by Jason Maxwell; commissioners voted in favor and the motion carried.
The commission’s approval included the dedicated drainage easement; health department approvals for septic areas remain required as part of usual platting procedures.
