Commission tables 89-acre PUD rezoning after residents raise traffic, safety concerns

The Stevens County Planning Commission on Oct. 7 tabled a request to rezone about 89.47 acres on Memorial Drive to a planned unit development (PUD) after extensive public comment about traffic, safety and density.

Staff introduced the proposal, saying the developer seeks a PUD that would include roughly 165 single-family homes, about 38,000 square feet of retail on a five-acre retail pad and approximately 37 acres (about 41%) of green space. Dion Delouf of DDB Capital, the developer, described the project as an "elevated living" development with community amenities and said the firm has experience with similar projects. Philip Cochran, a project manager with the Continuum Group, said the team has had "very high level preliminary conversations with GDOT" and that a traffic study would be prepared as part of the permitting process.

Multiple residents urged caution. Eddie Powers, who said he lives on Memorial Drive, questioned the economic justification and cited local population and employment data, asking, "Where's the growth coming into this county that would require us to have such a unit as this?" Other neighbors raised road-safety concerns, noting heavy tractor-trailer traffic on the bypass and past fatal crashes at the Memorial Drive intersection.

Commissioners and staff emphasized the DRI (development of regional impact) and GDOT processes. One commissioner said stipulations tied to a positive traffic-study outcome would be appropriate. After discussion, the commission voted 3–1 to table the rezoning and forwarded a recommendation—along with a request for a traffic study—to the county commission, which will take the final vote.

Next steps: the developer will complete a traffic analysis required by the DRI process and the county commission will consider the Planning Commission’s recommendation at a future meeting.