County OKS rezoning for subdivision
Catoosa County officials have approved the rezoning of a tract of land off Moore Road as part of a planned subdivision that will bring more than 70 new homes to the community.
During the July 16 Board of Commissioner’s meeting, Zoning Director James Davis explained the request to rezone the 52-acre piece of land from R-3 with conditions to RTZ with conditions.
Nearly a year ago, in August 2018, the board rezoned the property R-3 residential from its former A-1 agricultural despite concerns over how many homes were proposed to be developed on the property. Instead of the 103 single-family homes initially planned, commissioners imposed the condition that no more than 72 single-family homes could be constructed on the land at Moore Road and Pine Grove Road.
Now, both Planning and Zoning and the commissioners have unanimously approved the change from R-3 to RTZ with that same stipulation and others in place.
“Planning Commission met on the rezoning request June 25 and approved the request 4-0 with the following conditions: the development shall be limited to 72 build-able lots, which was the same as what was previously approved,” Davis said. “The developer shall improve Moore Road from the development to Pine Grove Road per county requirements. That was the same as well. The development shall be limited to singlefamily detached residential lots only, and the minimum lot width shall be 60 feet, with the minimum lot area to be 8,000 square feet, and a minimum development perimeter setback of 40 feet.”
Davis said the biggest difference in RTZ and R-3 is the allowance to build town homes or patio homes.
Davis also explained that the 40-foot setback between property perimeters is more than what the old zoning would mandate.
“That wasn’t covered in the previous amendments. They’re kind of going above and beyond on that with the extra green space and what-not,” Davis said. “In my opinion it’s a smart development because there won’t be as many paved roads in the development, which means down the road it’s going to be less for the county to maintain, and there’s also quite a bit of green space on the property as well and that’s a positive.”
The rezoning for the non-gated subdivision does comply with the county’s comprehensive plan, and Davis added that.
Resident Dennis Sims, who lives next door to the development, had questions about the proximity, but engineer Mike Price with MAP Engineers explained that there will be a 40-foot variance around the property lines.
“There is a 40-foot buffer that runs around the perimeter, so the closest that we can get to the property line is 40 feet, which does exceed the county standards,” Price explained.
In addition to the rezoning, Davis explained that there’s already sewer access to the development site through the city of Ringgold, but that the city and state still need to review the plans on the project.