New subdivision gains planner's conditional OK

■ The document must also receive City Council approval to become final.

The final plat for the Country Club Villas subdivision on Dogwood Drive gained the Planning Commission’s conditional approval Monday night.

The final plat must receive the City Council’s blessing, too.

The 20-acre development, owned by Cooper Communities, includes 11.2 acres of housing lots, 5.2 acres of green space and 3.7 acres of public right of way.

Senior planner Jennifer Bonner said that city staff did a second walkthrough of the subdivision on March 7, and the two major requirements left were an approved final drainage report and grading of a detention pond.

There’s also a requirement, she said, that signage for new roads be installed by the city and paid for by the owner. An estimate from the Street Department came to $211.94.

There are still some outstanding staff comments on this development, she said.

“There is some fire lane striping that still needs to be done,” Bonner said, “and with the weather we’ve had the past two weeks I’m not really surprised that hasn’t happened.”

Additionally, she said, there are a few other potential drainage issues, including driveway culverts, which may not have sufficient head coverage to prevent overflow.

Tom Oppenheim with CEI Engineering Associates said that these concerns can most likely be addressed before this goes to the City Council.

Commissioner Tom Robinson made a motion to recommend conditional approval to the City Council, and the commission voted unanimously in favor of it, with the exception of commissioner Theresa Neal, who recused herself because she works for Cooper.

The commission also selected officers for 2017, choosing to keep Daniel Ellis as chairman and Doug Farner as vice chairman. Gail Klesen was chosen secretary.

“If you stay on long enough,” Klesen said, “it rolls back around to you again, doesn’t it?”

The commission also recommended approval of lot splits on Huntley Lane and Fletcher Road.

Chris Suneson, director of the Community Development Services Department, also took a moment to talk about the city’s efforts to start on a comprehensive plan, which could amplify the commission’s workload.

Many elements of the comprehensive plan, he said, will go through the Planning Commission, and commissioners may also need to volunteer for some of the related work, such as public input meetings.

The city, he said, is negotiating a contract with Gould Evans to handle the comprehensive plan. While the scope of it is nearly established, the city does not yet have a price for it.

The comprehensive plan, he said, will include an update to the city’s land-use plan and to the transportation plan, which will cover streets and trails.

“You all will be critical to this process,” he told the commission. “It is going to be a long process.”