Opelika staff notifies council of three large planned-unit-development rezoning requests totaling about 1,269 housing units

Mister Mosley, a city staff member, told the Opelika City Council on July 22 that the city has received three separate requests to advertise rezonings to planned unit developments that together would develop about 386 acres and about 1,269 residential units. Mosley said the first request covers about 211 acres near Logan Drive just off Columbus Parkway and bordering Creekside Drive in the Eastlake development. The applicant, identified in staff materials as Hayes Iffert with Sanford Group representing Freeman JLP, proposes a residential PUD with roughly 541 single-family units and about 90 acres of open space. The second request is for about 174 acres along South Unirole Road near the railroad tracks, south of Drake’s Landing, from R-1 and M-1 zoning to a residential PUD. Mosley said the applicants listed in the packet are Hayes Iffert with Sanford Group representing Rebecca Walton Young and Olin Walton Price; the plan would include approximately 401 residential units and about 75 acres of open space (roughly 40 percent of the site). The third notice is an amendment to an existing mixed-use PUD that would add about 1.37 acres and reconfigure uses along First Avenue near the Peppermill site. Mosley said the amended PUD would create a more traditional downtown pattern with a mix of commercial uses—about 160,000 square feet of office/retail and restaurant space—and about 327 residential units (a mix of single-family, townhomes and multifamily). Why it matters: Mosley said the three proposals, if ultimately approved, would increase housing supply in several parts of the city and change land uses near existing neighborhoods. The planning commission issued positive recommendations on all three proposals, but the rezoning process requires further public hearings and council action. Mosley outlined code and safety conditions that will factor into future approvals. He said the city’s fire and life-safety requirements call for a secondary means of fire access after 30 lots; staff asked applicants to commit in their narrative to provide secondary fire access at 31 lots and to construct a full secondary traffic access once a development reaches 151 lots. Mosley also noted topography and creeks in the South Unirole site and that portions “may be in a flood zone,” which will affect development design and permitting. Council members asked clarifying questions at the staff presentation about the timing and inspection of secondary access. Mosley said the developer must show the access on construction and design plans and build it to the fire-code specifications so that a fire truck can use the lane; he said that coordination occurs during plan review rather than at the advertising stage. No rezoning ordinance was adopted at the meeting. Mosley described these items as “requests for advertising” that move the proposals to the formal public-notice and hearing steps; the council did not vote to rezone property at this meeting. Next steps: Each proposal will proceed through required public hearings and plan-review steps, including final engineering, floodplain review where applicable, and any required amendments to development agreements. Staff materials in the council packet include master plans, amenity packages and sample house types for each project.