Olive Branch approves rezoning for Bristow Oaks with 75% brick requirement

The Olive Branch Board of Aldermen on a unanimous vote approved rezoning roughly 38.89 acres at the southeast corner of Pleasant Hill Road and State Line Road from AR (agricultural residential) to an R-3 planned residential district and approved the associated project text and preliminary development plan for Bristow Oaks.

The planning staff recommended approval after the Planning Commission found a change in the character of the area and a public need for additional housing. The board’s action included a requirement that 75% of exterior wall surfaces on houses be brick and that the remaining 25% not be wood siding.

City planning presenter Song outlined the site’s history and the proposal’s details, saying the parcel originally was part of a 48.69-acre rezoning in 2005 and that 10 acres subsequently were sold to a church and later used for a power substation. Song said the developer’s revised plan reduces the number of lots and adds stormwater detention and other amenities that would not have been required under AR zoning. Song told the board the current proposal is for 42 lots on the 38.89-acre tract and that the density is about 1.08–1.1 dwelling units per acre. He said minimum house size would be 2,000 square feet, minimum lot sizes would be roughly one-half acre (with lots along State Line Road at a higher minimum), and that a stormwater retention pond is proposed on-site.

Lauren Ward, the applicant’s representative from Daniel Coker in Oxford, said the application originally raised a “mistake” argument about a 2012 rezoning but that the team had also presented change-in-character and public-need evidence. "Our application was initially based on a mistake in the 2012 rezoning... However, based on guidance provided by the planning staff... we decided to also proceed with this argument based on a change in character in the neighborhood," Ward said.

Alderman Earhart, who moved approval, said he saw "no factual evidence that in my opinion precludes us from approving this." The motion to approve included the 75% brick specification and a prohibition on wood siding for the remaining 25%.

Planning staff and the applicant emphasized stormwater and utility changes since 2005: public water and sewer are now available to the property and the revised plan includes curb, gutter, sidewalks, and on-site stormwater management to address neighborhood concerns about runoff.

The Planning Commission had advised the applicant to adjust the preliminary development plan to provide required open space (minimum 10% under current rules), add stormwater controls, and remove outdated strike-through project-text edits; the applicant submitted revisions that the commission recommended to the board. There were no public speakers in opposition at the hearing.

The board approved the rezoning and the project text and preliminary development plan as presented with the added exterior-material requirement. The developer will return later in the subdivision process with the final plat and covenants, where additional standards and restrictive covenants (such as private restrictions on rentals) can be proposed by the developer and enforced privately, not by the city.

The approved change modifies what would otherwise have been an AR development (about 38 lots under AR) to a plan that adds roughly four lots while providing sidewalks, stormwater detention, and open space.

Additional details in the record: the tract’s earlier 2005 plan was for 71 lots at a gross density of 1.46 dwelling units per acre; the applicant’s revised plan was described in the staff report as reduced from 51 lots to 42 lots (density ~1.08–1.1 du/ac). The board’s approval was unanimous.