Planning commission recommends vacating part of Conway Drive to allow development

The Green City Planning and Zoning Commission voted on Sept. 18 to recommend that city council vacate a 0.62-acre portion of Conway Drive to consolidate a remnant parcel and make it more viable for future development.

Steve Metcalfe of Neff and Associates, the surveyor for the plat, told the commission the area was originally dedicated in 2013 and that after a recent roundabout project the right-of-way no longer functions as part of the transportation network. "The applicant has prepared and provided this plat as a method to vacate that right away," Metcalfe said, adding the city will keep a full utility easement so maintenance and utility access remain possible.

Metcalfe and staff also said the northern half of the vacated area would go to the parcel represented by the applicant and that two property owners to the south (including a larger parcel owned by Conrad's and a CVS parcel) have been contacted and are willing to accept portions of the vacated right-of-way. He said a prospective 7 Brew coffee tenant was a driver behind the application.

Commissioners asked about ingress and egress, building placement and whether the new parcel would support circulation for a drive-through operation; staff and the applicant said the likely access would be from the CVS drive and that the roundabout and existing utilities make access from Madison Road undesirable. Resident Joel Helms asked whether bicycle access would remain; commissioners and staff explained sidewalk provisions and local rules about bicycles on sidewalks.

A motion for a favorable recommendation to city council passed on roll call. The city retains the utility easement; any future development on the consolidated parcel will return to the commission for site-plan review as required.