Planning commission approves GPD rezoning for Cedar Forest but denies preliminary subdivision plat

The Tuscaloosa Planning and Zoning Commission on March 17 approved a rezoning request to establish a General Planned Development (GPD) for the 27.1-acre Cedar Forest site near Bowers Park, but rejected the associated preliminary subdivision plat for the same project.

Staff said the proposal, GPD 0425, would rezone property from single-family residential (SFR1) to GPD to allow a residential subdivision labeled in the materials as Cedar Forest. The rezoning would authorize a development layout the petitioner showed as 81 lots total (80 single-family lots and one open-space lot) and roughly 10 acres of dedicated open space. Staff enumerated proposed minimum building sizes and setbacks and noted the petitioner reduced the prior submission (which had included townhomes) to a primarily single-family scheme since January.

The rezoning passed on a 4-3 vote. Commissioners then considered the companion preliminary plat, PS 0725, which would formally establish 80 residential lots and the open-space parcel. That plat requires six affirmative votes for approval under the subdivision rules; the motion on PS…