By Mindy Ragan Wood
Staff Writer
A special Piedmont City Council meeting drew a crowd full of residents who made their voices heard in opposition to a residential rezoning application Monday night.
Residents who want to keep the land zoned agricultural between Moffat and Mustang Road signed a petition against the zoning and turned it in to the city prior to the meeting.
Residents spoke against the request during the May 7 planning commission meeting and again during a public hearing at the May 21 city council meeting.
For 30 minutes opponents tried to sway council members to vote against the rezoning which they believe contradicted the 2030 Comprehensive Plan.
Aaron Denker said people like his family moved outside city limits to enjoy an agricultural way of life.
“What this proposed zoning does is stick residential land out in the middle of agricultural land without the support of the urban center in the surrounding areas like libraries, parks, schools. Many of us chose land near the city limits to maintain agricultural living,” Denker said. “Some even moved away from Piedmont’s urban core hoping that this kind of land development would be focused near the town.”
Angie Dial said when she purchased her home on Mustang Road in Arrowhead Estates, she believed her family would live in an area surrounded by no more than five acre lots. She said when they purchased their land it was all five acre lots and it was not “fair to homeowners who did not foresee this change when they moved into the country.”
Dial said that it was a violation of the comprehensive plan.
“Zoning regulations must be adopted according to the comprehensive plan to lessen congestion in the streets,” she quoted from the plan. “The roads are in very bad shape. Moffat Road is much like most of the roads in Piedmont, just patchwork….those (two) bridges are not in very good shape. You cannot have two people going down that bridge at the same time.”
Dial urged council members to survey the land and the area before deciding on the rezoning request.
Terry Brennan read from the comprehensive plan which states that areas where high density zoning allows “two to four dwelling units per acre” should be located near the center of town. Brennan referred to zoning ordinances which are to be determined with “future land uses, roads and planned infrastructure” in view.
It was clear the council was concerned about the potential for litigation. The land is owned by Piedmont developer Phil Boevers, who won a lawsuit against the city after the council voted against a residential rezoning request and has two other lawsuits against the city.
The request would rezone the land for a minimum of 2.5 acre lots.
City Manager Jason Orr previously reported the city lost $100,000 in legal fees and lost the lawsuit Boevers filed. Knowledge of the last legal skirmish was not lost on Terry Brennan.
“It will go against the comprehensive plan, a contract if you will that was approved by the council and the majority of the people in Piedmont. Don’t let your vote go against the voice of the people that have elected you and please don’t succumb to the voice of a bully,” said Brennan who later confirmed he referred to Boevers in his comments.
Council members attempted to address residents’ concerns. Councilman John Brown responded to water infrastructure and said city ordinances require developers installing lots less than five acres to install “whatever water lines are necessary” to connect to city water.
“By platting this into a subdivision, we get to collect impact fees and lot fees for these lots to improve the road. On five acres we can’t do that,” Brown said.
The councilman also pointed out that the comprehensive plan was not law.
“It’s not set in stone,” Brown said. “The comp plan is a guideline we use to get the city to grow the way we want it to grow. Unfortunately, the city cannot control what land develops and what does not. Only the availability of land for sale determines what develops…we publish zoning ordinances…these rules are the ones you have to follow. You can’t put out a set of rules for each individual zoning area that says for this one you have to do these things and for this one you have to do these things over here.”
Vice-Mayor Bobby Williamson said the planning commission, city attorney and city manager had already recommended the zoning request for approval.
“One of their jobs is to reduce the liability of the city and that’s my job also. To serve the citizens of Piedmont we uphold the ordinances and use the comprehensive plan not as a sword to use it whenever you want, but as a guideline. Unfortunately, infrastructure does not drive the road. I live on some land out on 234th and the property across from me might sometime be developed. These are tough decisions. No one is taking this lightly,” Williamson said.
The measure passed 4-1 with Al Gleichmann voting no. Melissa Ashford voted yes but not before she said, “I don’t want to but yes.”
Councilman Brown expressed his sympathy for the crowd.
“I’m spoiled because I live on six acres, but we just approved a half acre addition of over 300 houses right next to me. I don’t like it, but there’s nothing I can do about it. I can’t say to this developer that you can’t do what you want,” he said.
