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Appeal to keep two driveways fails after 3–3 tie vote
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Summary
The Auburn Planning Commission considered an appeal to keep both a South College Street driveway and a new Woodfield Drive access. Neighbors testified keeping both drives improved safety and access; commissioners split 3–3 on the waiver, producing a tie and causing the motion to fail.
The Auburn Planning Commission deadlocked 3–3 on a driveway spacing waiver appeal Tuesday, resulting in the motion’s failure and leaving the condition that the existing South College Street driveway be closed if a new Woodfield Drive access is added.
At a public hearing, neighbors described safety and maneuvering concerns tied to South College Street’s heavy traffic. Donna Midgem, whose home is adjacent to the property, said the existing driveway provides safer options to enter and exit the property, citing multiple rear-end crashes near her driveway and urging the commission to allow the owners to keep both accesses. She asked the city to consider lowering the speed limit to reduce crashes.
Rodney Rushing, who lives at 827 South College and spoke as the property owner, said maintaining the old driveway is a matter of practicality and cost: he described the house as a 1940s game‑day house with a 20‑foot easement to Woodfield, said he uses the property for events, and told commissioners he did not want to pay to remove the existing curb cut or rework the apron. Rushing said, “We want to leave our existing driveway open,” and described limited room to turn around from the current access.
Staff and engineering explained the background: the waiver was originally approved on the condition that the South College driveway be closed when Woodfield access is built to address curb‑cut spacing and safety on a high‑volume corridor. Staff noted typical closure steps include constructing curb and gutter across the existing apron and backfilling to restore the right-of-way, which can involve removing roughly the apron segment adjacent to the street but would not necessarily change the property’s address.
Commissioners debated trade-offs between maintaining private convenience and managing access on a street staff compared to a secondary access. One commissioner said closing the South College driveway would be safer given the speed and traffic volume, while others acknowledged the benefit of an additional outlet but stressed that access management policy for major corridors often prevents multiple direct driveways.
When the chair called a roll‑call vote on the motion to approve PC case WZ2026‑002, Commissioners Narnette Reese, Jennifer Stevens and Oscar Mosley voted yes; Commissioners Dana Camp, Vanessa Echols and Walker Davis voted no. The chair stated that a tie vote means the motion fails, so the condition to close the South College driveway remains if the Woodfield curb cut is granted in the future.
The commission took no further action on the property during the meeting.
