Developer seeks rezoning of 78‑acre tract along Highway 5 for single‑family‑attached neighborhood; residents raise drainage and traffic concerns

Don Overton, representing BTR Real Estate Solutions, presented a rezoning application to the Planning Commission proposing to rezone just over 78 acres along Highway 5 from R1 (single‑family) to R2 (medium density) to allow approximately 179 single‑family‑attached duplex lots and associated green space.

Overton said the company plans interior alley‑loaded lots with a central park of roughly 5 acres, a dog park and walking trails, and perimeter lots with traditional driveways. He said unit types would be single‑family attached — “so it’s not an apartment, it’s a house,” he said — describing one side of a duplex as about 1,000–1,092 square feet and the other as about 1,500 square feet (2,592 sq ft total per duplex). Lot sizes in the concept plan were described as roughly 70 by 135 feet for interior lots and 70 by 140 feet for perimeter lots, with lot coverage estimated near 30%, below a 35% threshold noted in staff materials.

Overton told commissioners he had spoken with Tim Joiner of Cabot Waterworks about a long‑range plan to extend a sewer main that currently terminates near an existing commercial node; he said that extension and stormwater controls would be refined during the plat and stormwater review processes. To reduce runoff, Overton said the project would retain a roughly 15‑acre undeveloped buffer on the south edge of the site and place detention and green‑space areas where runoff concentrates.

Several residents spoke at the public hearing. Bob Haley, a resident of the neighboring West Oak subdivision, asked how much of the buffer vegetation would be disturbed and whether that natural area would be sufficient to address a history of runoff and flooding in the neighborhood. He said the neighborhood has experienced repeated runoff and sewage problems over decades and cautioned that the proposed buffer alone might not resolve those issues.

Dustin Daniel also spoke in opposition, calling attention to the neighborhood’s history of flooding and sewage repairs and raising traffic‑safety concerns about the proposed Highway 5 access points; he asked about expected rents and the clientele the development would target.

Overton said the development is market‑rate rather than subsidized and estimated current market rents at about $1,500 per month for a two‑bedroom unit and about $2,400 per month for a three‑bedroom unit in the product he described. He reiterated that detailed stormwater design, sewer extension and traffic improvements would be addressed in subsequent engineering and plat reviews required if the rezoning advances.

The item was presented as a rezoning application and public hearing; the transcript does not record a final decision or a vote on the rezoning at this meeting. Commissioners sought clarifying information on unit size, lot coverage, access points and infrastructure; further review and engineering studies were described as conditions of any future subdivision approval.