Planning commission tables Forestdale rezoning after Hawthorne Hills easement dispute

The Warrenton City Planning & Zoning Commission on Aug. 6 tabled a requested rezoning for the Forestdale Subdivision after nearby Hawthorne Hills residents urged the developer to resolve deed and easement issues before the city changes zoning.

John, a planning staff member, opened the public hearing by telling the commission that Warren Center LLC had applied to rezone about 67.54 acres from R‑1 (low‑density single‑family) to R‑2 (medium‑density single‑family) and that application materials and public notices had been completed. “The applicant is Warren Center LLC. It’s approximately 67.54 acres north of North Service Road,” John said during his presentation.

Neighbors focused much of their testimony on whether the tract labeled Lot 19 or Lot 20 was correctly shown on recorded plats and whether a 20‑foot access easement to the Hawthorne Hills dam and lake would be affected. Joshua Peth, who identified himself as a Hawthorne Hills resident, said he reviewed deeds and plats and warned the commission that recorded Hawthorne Hills restrictions appear to cover the tract in question. “Based on my research, you can’t willy‑nilly just move a recorded block from subdivision to subdivision,” Peth said.

The developer’s representative described the project as using existing streets and utilities and said the preliminary plat would result in substantially more but not maximal density. The representative said a fully redeveloped theoretical maximum could reach about three lots per acre, but the applicant’s preliminary plat shows 49 reconfigured lots plus three unchanged lots — roughly 53 lots total. “We could get about 3 lots to the acre. We could get about a 180 homes in there,” the representative said when explaining theoretical capacity, and then clarified the applicant’s proposed buildout.

Commissioners and staff noted that disputes over deed restrictions or private covenants are generally matters for private legal resolution and not a direct city enforcement action, though the presence of overlapping plats and easements created a practical reason to pause the zoning decision. A commissioner moved to table the request “until the developer has an opportunity to work, to come to an agreement with the owners of Hawthorne Hills on the question of Lot 20 and or Lot 19 and the easement and common ground designation.” The motion was seconded and passed on a roll‑call vote of 6–1.

The commission’s tabling does not permanently deny rezoning; it postpones an advisory recommendation to the Board of Aldermen while the parties seek a local resolution. The item will return to the commission next month for further review.