COUNTY
OF ETOWAH
CITY
OF RAINBOW CITY, ALABAMA – PLANNING COMMISSION – NOVEMBER 23, 2004
The
Planning Commission of the City of Rainbow City, Alabama met in a regular
session at 4:00 P.M. and upon roll call the following members were present:
Wes
Ellis, Acting Chairman Absent:
Terry
John Calhoun, Mayor John
D. Watson, Chairman
W.
Bryan Stone, Council Member Thomas
Moon
Frances
Elrod
Wayne
Walden
Mona
Wallace
Keith
Gibson
Also
Present
Wiley
McLain, Building Official Lee
Roberts, City Attorney
Mark Stephens, City Engineer Melvin
Potter, Fire Chief
Eddie
Perman, City Engineer
1. With
the absence of Mr. John Watson, Wes Ellis will be acting chairman for this
meeting.
2. Upon
roll call, Acting Chairman Ellis declared a quorum was present and the
following business
was transacted.
3. Mona
Wallace moved and Bryan Stone seconded the motion to suspend the reading of the
minutes of October 26 and November 2,
2004. Motion carried, the minutes will
stand as
presented.
4. Mr.
Ellis announced that since we had a large number of people pertaining to the
re-zoning
application, the agenda would be changed
to allow this public hearing to take place first. It was
announced that the public hearing for the
re-zoning of 1/2 of Tract "A" of Sturkie Subdivision
would now take place. Court & Victoria Barber wish to re-zone
this 4 acre (more or less)
tract of land from R-1 Single Family
Residential to R-2-1C Patio and Townhouse District with
Conditional Zoning (see Section 346) of
Rainbow City Zoning Ordinance #360.
Approximately 20 people were present (see
attached) in opposition to this re-zoning request.
Robert Colvin of Larkhaven Drive spoke
against the re-zoning. His home adjoins
this tract
of land and he stated that when it rains,
his back yard floods from the water that now comes
from this property. Court Barber was allowed to speak and explain
that he wanted to re-zone
and place 18 homes on this tract of land
along with a proffer of rezoning conditions (see
attached). Christy Smith of Peteet Street spoke against
the re-zoning. She is concerned
about traffic and the safety of her children
and others on the streets. Pam Hale of
Joham
Street, also opposed, present Planning
with a petition with 56 names opposing the re-zoning.
Mrs. Hale is also concerned with traffic
and safety. Judson Hamilton spoke, also
opposed,
concerning Zoning Ordinance #360 of
Rainbow City, Section 342, paragraph (b), (4), "Reason
for rezoning request" and Section
366 (a), (3) "Hardship alone is not sufficient; Alabama statues
require unnecessary hardship" &
(4) " Mere financial loss of a kind which might be common to
all of the property owners in a district
in not an unnecessary hardship".
(Section 366 deals with
variance request.) Mr. Barber was then allowed rebuttal to these
concerns. Wes Ellis explained
to the audience that Planning's
recommendation would be sent to the Rainbow City Council no
matter what action Planning took
according to Zoning Ordinance #360, Section 343, (c) (see
attached). Chairman Ellis then asked the pleasure of
Planning Commission for a motion to the
request.
Planning Commission members took no action. Mr. Ellis then stated that
Planning would report to the City Council
that the request is in compliance to the Zoning
Ordinance and would report that many
people were present in opposition. Mr.
Judson
Hamilton requested his concerns for the
request not being in compliance to be forwarded on to
the Rainbow City Council. Mr. Wes Ellis responded stating that Mr.
Hamilton's request would
be noted.
Page
2
Planning
Commission Meeting
November
23, 2004
5. A
public hearing was announced for Mason Caldwell. Mr. Caldwell is requesting to annex
into Rainbow City Corporate limits with
Agricultural Zoning. Mr. Caldwell's
property is at the
corner of Pleasant Valley and McDaniel
Lane consisting of approximately 6 acres.
There was
no one present in opposition to this
request. Wayne Walden moved and Frances
Elrod seconded
the motion to recommend to the Rainbow
City Council to annex Mr. Caldwell's property into
Rainbow City under Agricultural
Zoning. Motion carried.
6. A
public hearing for Montrose Gardens Subdivision was announced but there are two
(2)
problems with the 6th Addition
request. The Rainbow City Council has
not re-zoned the
property at this time and Colfax Street
has not been annulled by the City Council.
No action can
be taken until these items have been
addressed by Rainbow City Council.
7.
William "Bill" Lester, owner of property and Mark Barclay,
Barclay Construction were present
with the building drawings for the A B C
Store and a spec building that will be constructed on
the same property. After discussion of the comments from Staff
Review, Bryan Stone moved
and Mona Wallace seconded the motion to
approve the building plans with corrections being
made according to Staff Review. Motion carried.
8.
Trent Thrasher, Thrasher Construction and Eddie Perman, City Engineer
were present with
plans for Parnell Mattress. Site plans were approved over six (6) months
ago, so Wiley
McLain, Building Official, had requested
they be approved again along with the building
drawings. Mr. Perman has reviewed the site plans again
and stated they were in compliance.
After discussion, Wayne Walden moved and
Frances Elrod seconded the motion to approve the
site and building drawings in accordance
to Staff Review notes. Motion carried.
9.
Trent Thrasher, Thrasher Construction and owner of property (Lot #12) of
Deerfoot Industrial
Park appeared with site plans for a spec
building to be built on 1/2 of this lot.
Mr. Thrasher
appeared before City Council on November
22, 2004 and was granted permission to subdivide
this one (1) lot into two (2) lots. Bryan Stone moved and Frances Elrod seconded
the motion to
approve the site plans. Motion carried.
10. There being no further business on the agenda
for The Planning Commission at this time,
Wayne Walden moved to adjourn.
Respectfully submitted,
Kathy Hill
Recording Secretary