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Council approves rezoning on East Booth Street despite neighbor drainage concerns
Summary
Council approved a request to rezone 0.9 acres on East Booth Street to MF-1 for a 12-unit apartment project; residents urged caution over known drainage issues and asked for engineering safeguards, which staff and the developer said would be addressed in site plan review.
The Paris City Council voted Oct. 28 to approve a rezoning request that will allow a roughly 12-unit apartment development at the corner of East Booth and 19th (0.9 acres), despite extensive public concern about drainage and historic flooding in the watershed.
Miss Easton presented the petition and said staff and the Planning & Zoning Commission recommended approval. "There were a number of drainage concerns, and that will have to be addressed during the development process," she told the council, noting engineering and detention requirements would be enforced in site-plan review.
Judy Malone, a long-time neighborhood resident, delivered an extended account of the area’s drainage history and argued that notice and impact radius used for the hearing (200 feet) failed to capture everyone affected. She urged a moratorium on further multifamily development until the larger basin issues are addressed, saying the basin historically carried creeks and now produces regular flooding and damage to homes.
Developer Skyler Bursnell told the council he owns nearby properties and said his team would work with the city engineer on detention and watershed controls. "Obviously I don't want to flood my own houses out," Skyler said, adding the development can incorporate underground detention or other measures to control runoff.
Council members weighed the competing concerns: several said planning staff and the planning commission’s unanimous approval counseled in favor of allowing the project, and that site-level engineering requirements should mitigate added runoff. One council member noted broader watershed improvements may be needed but that the small upstream lot could be designed to hold and slow release of stormwater.
The council approved the rezoning motion after discussion and a voice vote. The developer must still meet all site plan, building and detention requirements before construction begins.
