Owen County Plan Commission recommends commissioners reject rezoning for proposed Owen Hill subdivision off Little Flock Road

The Owen County Plan Commission voted to send an unfavorable recommendation to the county commissioners on a rezoning request for property off Little Flock Road that the applicant presented as preliminary plans for the Owen Hill subdivision.

Residents who live along Little Flock Road and nearby State Road 43 told the commission the change from agricultural to single-family residential would impose new traffic, water, drainage and public‑safety burdens on the community. The applicant and its engineer said the rezone is the first step to allow a subdivision design review that would address septic, drainage and access during a later subdivision application.

Opponents said the schematic presented — showing roughly 40–50 lots on the site — would overload a narrow, curving Little Flock Road, increase stormwater runoff and risk depleting or contaminating private wells. “They can't hook on the city water. They're gonna have to have well and a septic. They don't have enough acreage for most of them,” resident Randy Hamm told the commission. Multiple residents said several proposed lots are under the size they believe is necessary for reliable septic systems and wells, and they urged the developer to put subdivision access on State Road 43 instead of Little Flock Road.

Chelsea Moss, a design engineer with Avon Moss Design Group representing the applicant, said the packet before the Plan Commission was a schematic to test feasibility and that detailed technical work would occur during the subdivision review if rezoning is approved. Moss told the commission: “Septics will be individual on each lot. Per state law, we need a minimum of 1 acre, and we will need 50 foot separation from any well.” She also said the project team had taken preliminary looks at drainage and planned to comply with state construction and stormwater permits and to work with the county highway department on the access point.

Speakers pressed several technical and service questions that the Plan Commission and the applicant said would be addressed at the subdivision stage, including whether a forced-main or package plant might be used, where school buses would turn, and whether the county and local fire and emergency services could serve the proposed development. Residents also raised environmental concerns, including nearby caves and springs, presence of amphibians used as water‑quality indicators, and the role of existing forest cover in reducing flash‑flood risk.

After public comment the commission considered a motion to provide an unfavorable recommendation to the county commissioners. Norman Warner, a Plan Commission member, moved to give an unfavorable recommendation; Donna McIntyre seconded. One commission member recused themself because their spouse conducted a survey for the project. The commission voted by show of hands to forward an unfavorable recommendation; specific vote counts were not specified in the meeting record. The commission chair noted that the commission’s recommendation is advisory and that the county commissioners have the final decision.

Next steps: the commission's unfavorable recommendation will be forwarded to the county commissioners for their consideration. The commission encouraged residents to submit written comments before the commissioners' meeting; the chair said the earliest the commissioners could consider the matter would be in about two weeks but that their calendar could make it longer.

Because the presentation to the Plan Commission was a rezoning request (a map amendment), the commission did not make final determinations on septic design, stormwater calculations, road design or lot-level engineering; the applicant will need to provide those technical studies during the subdivision review if the board of commissioners approves a map change.