May 11, 2019

Mallory Herrmann
citydesk@lstribune.net

Additional development at Woodland Glen has gained approval from the planning commission. The neighborhood, located near SW Ward and Scherer Roads, was initially approved in 2000 as a variety of single-family estates, detached single-family villas, attached single-family villas and apartments – totaling 194 units on about 60 acres. Since then, 34 single-family estate and 53 detached single-family villa lots have been platted on 36 acres.

Now, a new developer has proposed 17 single-family estate and 23 two-unit villa lots on 24 acres of the remaining undeveloped property. Apartments are no longer part of the preliminary development plan for the area.

Residents of the existing development came forward to share concerns, including increased traffic and sharing maintenance costs for the neighborhood. In fact, the city received protest petitions with enough signatures from residents that, if city staff determine it to be a valid legal protest, the project will require six votes from the city council to receive approval.

Several residents say they don’t think future residents in the new development should have access to shared amenities like the neighborhood pool, since they weren’t designed to accommodate as many homes. But they want to coordinate trash haulers and trash pickup days to decrease strain on their streets and ensure fees are collected to maintain the neighborhood entries and traffic islands.

Jason Norbury, the commission’s chair, expressed some reluctance with those proposals.

“If you want that kind of control,” he said, “you gotta give them access to your pool.”

The planning commission voted unanimously to recommend approval of the project. Commissioners Jake Loveless, Carla Dial and Dana Arth were absent from the May 9 session.

City council will hold their own public hearing and vote on the development plan at a future session.