Monett North Hills subdivision Phase 1 approved, includes 111 homes

Rezoning makes all single-family houses same classification, first round doesn’t include duplexes
 
Plans for the North Hills subdivision in Monett received their first green light on Oct. 14 as the Monett City Council approved the first phase to move forward. By approving two zoning changes and the plat as recommended by the Planning and Zoning Commission, Vaughn Construction can move forward with building its first 111 homes of the 230-home subdivision.
Council members introduced the ordinance at its Sept. 11 meeting. Public comment was left until the latest meeting. The plan became somewhat confusing in that two zoning changes were consolidated into one ordinance, and neither was explained.
The zoning changes eliminated a 70-foot strip dividing sections of Jim Lemon’s original 1997 plat and redistributed the land into individual lots in the Vaughn’s plat. That required changing the zoning of that land from single-family housing to medium density single family housing, allowing for smaller lots than other single-family subdivisions.
The second zoning change also altered Lemon’s original proposal, changing the zoning for the strip of land bordered by 17th Street on the east from single-family housing to multi-family. This will enable Vaughn Construction to erect 24 duplexes on that section.
No explanation for the rezoning was given at the meeting. Mayor Randy Burke simply said the issues had been discussed at length at the Planning and Zoning meeting on Aug. 27. He indicated rezoning was a switch to medium density, the classification Jim Lemon had for the bulk of the subdivision, without detailing why the changes had been requested.
The other ordinance approved about one-third of the subdivision for construction, on the eastern half of the subdivision, but west of the duplexes planned along 17th Street. This entails 111 lots on three north-south streets, all feeding into Farm Road 2230 bordering the north edge of the subdivision. Each street will have houses on both sides with one intersecting east-west street crossing them in the middle. The north-south streets end in a cul-de-sac at the south.
Phase 1 does not include the duplexes. Alyssa Vaughn with Vaughn Construction told The Record that the duplex plan will be presented to the Planning and Zoning Commission when it meets at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 29 at the school district’s administration office at Ninth and Cleveland. She noted that after hearing feedback at the last Planning and Zoning meeting, the Vaughns had the duplex section reengineered.
The Vaughns had proposed six driveways that would feed into 17th Street, which neighbors complained was too narrow, only 20 feet wide in that section. The new plat has no driveways feeding into 17th Street. Instead, it has a new street, with one entrance onto 17th Street and the other end feeding onto Farm Road 2230 to the north. That would limit the number of places motorists on 17th Street could encounter drivers coming out of the subdivision.
Public comments did not directly address the ordinances on the table. Rather, they focused on the overall subdivision concept.
One resident critiqued the proposal for building houses beyond the price range of a typical working family. Cassie Branch, representing local employer Architectural Systems Inc., said her employer welcomed the construction, calling the price range “the perfect amount for what employees are searching for.”
Deborah Schoen, who lives in the adjacent Dierker subdivision, asked about “problems” brought up at the Planning and Zoning meeting, which ranged from speeding motorists and inadequate roadways to stormwater run-off.
Burke said the city had begun collecting traffic data, put up flashing signs discouraging speeding, and looked at alternatives such as adding sidewalks, road widening, and extending 17th Street south into the school property. He provided no details about what those efforts discovered.
City engineer Kevin Sprenkle added that the stormwater plan was “being developed,” but that any construction would have to follow the city’s stormwater management plan passed in 1996. That ordinance includes a mathematical formula calling for retention ponds to hold stormwater displaced by new construction. The plan does not address heavy rains, which already overflow onto streets in nearby adjacent subdivisions.
The two ordinances passed without additional discussion by council members.