Planning commission approves annexation and rezoning for New Watermelon site after extensive public comment

The Tuscaloosa Planning and Zoning Commission on April 21 approved annexation of about 4.99 acres at 605 New Watermelon Road and rezoned the parcel from SFR-1 to GC (General Commercial) following staff presentations and extended public comment.

The vote follows a staff briefing that said the site is currently identified in the city’s framework plan as "Traditional Neighborhood Edge (TN2)" and that the requested commercial zoning does not conform to the plan. Staff reported 46 public comments received the previous month and 32 additional comments since then. City engineering and the petitioner discussed updates to a traffic study intended to address neighbors’ concerns.

Michael Garner, the city engineer, told the commission the revised traffic plan envisions "1 full access intersection of the southernmost access and then the northern will be a directional access only," clarifying the northern access would be right-in/right-out. Chris Sentell of Sentell Engineering, representing the applicant North River Crossings LLC, said the developer agreed to install a center turn lane and to limit the northern access to right-in/right-out, and that an earlier architectural redesign added about $150,000 in aesthetic improvements to…