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Prattville planning commission recommends rezoning Redfield Road site to PUD after public hearing
Summary
After a public hearing with residents raising traffic and stormwater concerns, the City of Prattville Planning Commission voted 5–2 to recommend rezoning roughly 136 acres at Redfield Road from B2/B4/FAR to a planned unit development and approved a concept master plan to allow detailed studies to proceed.
The City of Prattville Planning Commission on March 19 recommended rezoning roughly 136 acres at Cobbs Ford Road, Redfield Road and Highway 82 East from B2, B4 and FAR to a planned unit development (PUD), voting 5–2 after a public hearing in which nearby residents urged the commission to require traffic and stormwater studies.
The rezoning request, presented by planning staff and the petitioner’s representative, Blake Rice of BSI Incorporated, would allow a mixed-use project the application describes as roughly 275,000 square feet of commercial space and 405 residential units, including detached single-family homes, attached townhomes/carriage units and multifamily build-to-rent product. Rice said the preliminary master-plan approval would let the developer proceed with detailed studies — most notably an “extensive” traffic study — before final approvals or construction.
Why it mattered: Residents of the adjacent Eastwood subdivision told commissioners they are concerned about congestion at the Redfield/Legends Parkway/Cobbs Ford area and about localized flooding. Mary King, a resident who said about 57 households live at the bottom of Redfield Road, asked the commission to “think about getting some kind of a traffic feasibility or requiring them to show you how it’s gonna work” and to require runoff studies.
Developer’s response: Rice told the commission the project team has engaged traffic consultants (Skipper Consulting) and has sketch intersection concepts intended to improve movements off Redfield; he also described detention facilities intended to reroute much existing runoff and said, based on grading and detention work, the project would “cut off 70 or 80% of the water that’s going there now,” reducing drainage into Eastwood. Rice emphasized that the preliminary PUD approval is intended to allow the required traffic counts and technical analyses to proceed and that the project would need to return for any substantive modifications.
Staff and process safeguards: City staff and the city engineer said the city will require a comprehensive traffic study and will loop in ALDOT for any impacts to state-controlled roadways; staff also noted the city is part of an MS4 stormwater program and that some pipes in Eastwood are undersized and may present replacement challenges. The engineer said the city typically uses Skipper Consulting to review traffic work and would consider third-party peer review if needed.
Commission action and next steps: After discussion and public comment, a commissioner moved to approve the rezoning and the motion carried 5–2; a written resolution will be prepared and signed. Commissioners and staff said the preliminary master plan and the rezoning recommendation are not construction approvals; the applicant must complete and satisfy required traffic, drainage and other technical studies, and the city council holds the final decision on rezoning.
The commission also approved a related master plan for the Jones Estate PUD during the same meeting; that approval confirms the commission’s conceptual findings to allow the applicant to move forward with the detailed studies required by the city.
