The City of Central Planning Commission on June 16 approved a request to subdivide portions of the Kim Chandler Place property into five lots, with staff conditions requiring construction details for an existing 15-foot gravel access and a guaranteed turnaround on the private servitude.

The vote follows public comments from neighbors concerned about drainage and maintenance of a Demco power-line servitude that adjoins the proposed lots. The commission attached staff recommendations about road width and map notation for a turnaround before final plat sign-off.

Commissioners approved the subdivision with staff conditions after hearing from the property owner and neighbors. The applicant sought to split three tracts into five on an existing 60-foot servitude and an existing 15-foot gravel road. Planning staff told the commission the request met minimum requirements but noted a companion rezoning case seeking to change zoning from R‑1 to RA.

Gary Ross, the applicant, spoke briefly at the public hearing and described his intent to “get these 2 lots to give to my son. He wants to build a house out there where we live.” Ross said the parent parcel is about 37 acres and that he planned to retain roughly 20 acres.

Neighbor Markell Templeton, who said she lives at 9313 Willow Creek Drive, told the commission her backyard “backs up to where these lots are being proposed” and said drainage problems began after trees were cleared during prior development. “My main concern … is the drainage situation,” Templeton said. She said the Demco servitude and a drainage swale that used to soak up runoff were altered when land was cleared, and urged that drainage be “addressed and get it properly handled.”

A different resident who has maintained a swale on the site described a 50-foot energy servitude and a constructed swale that drains to Willow Creek and ultimately to Granville Springs Road; he told the commission the ditch “drains real good” and said periodic maintenance had kept standing water from forming recently.

Commissioners pressed for clarity about whether required road improvements were attached to the subdivision approval or the companion rezoning. Staff and members agreed the 20-foot roadway width condition ties to the rezoning and clarified a turnaround or a mapped circle must appear on the final plat so the turnaround cannot be removed in the future. Commissioner remarks also noted that the applicant’s parent tracts predate the 2013 cutoff for certain subdivision limits.

The motion to approve, made with staff recommendations and the requirement that the turnaround/circle be shown on the plat, passed on roll call with the commissioners recorded as voting yes.

The approval included these procedural conditions: the applicant must reflect the turnaround/circle on the map before the city signs the final plat, and the 15-foot gravel road must meet applicable minimal standards described in Section 7-13-6-9(d) for gravel width and thickness before final plat recording.

The commission’s action resolves the subdivision application for the Kim Chandler Place property at this stage; any companion rezoning will proceed separately and could carry additional conditions tying road-width standards to that rezoning action.