Posted: 7/27/04
Planning Commission requests approval of Brownsville development
By David Heiller
Argus News Editor
The Houston County Planning Commission has recommended that a request to rezone for a subdivision from agricultural to residential for property in section 14 of Brownsville Township be approved.
Planning commission members tabled a request to grant a conditional use permit for multi-family dwelling units in a residential area until they could get a first-hand look at the site. That will be done on August 5 at 7 p.m.
Last weekís decisions came in a packed meeting room during the planning commissionís monthly meeting on July 22 in the basement of the Houston County Courthouse in Caledonia.
The development, called Bluff Country LLC, is being proposed by Michael Sexauer two miles north of Brownsville along Highway 26. The 15-acre parcel currently is a campground run by Ron Levendoski.
Bluff Country LLC would have seven twin condominiums. (There would be seven buildings, with two owners per building.) Two other single-family dwellings west of there would be built on two separate lots, one north of Levendoskiís house and one south of it, county planning and zoning administrator Bob Scanlan said on July 23.
The development would be privately owned with a private street.
Decisions by the planning commission are recommendations only. The county board must give final approval.
Variances tabled
On the same subject at last Thursdayís meeting, the Houston County Board of Adjustment
tabled four variances for Bluff Country LLC.
Board of adjustment members also want to tour the site, and will do so on July 29 at 9 a.m.
Here are the variances that were tabled.
ï Variance for a multi-family dwelling complex to abut a private street instead of a public street.
ï Variance of 25 feet to meet the minimum 75-foot lot width and variance of 3 feet to meet the minimum 125-foot lot depth.
ï Variance of 3,900 square feet to meet the minimum lot area of 10,000 square feet in a residential area.
ï Variance of 15 feet to meet the required 15-foot setback on a side property line in a residential area.
Decisions by the board of adjustment are final. They do not need to be approved by the full county board.
Public is concerned
Scanlan said people who attended the public hearings were concerned that their water quality and wells might be affected, and that the development would affect the country flavor of their neighborhood.
Scanlan said variances are usually approved by county officials unless people can prove that the projects will affect their well-being.
Proving that water problems will occur is difficult to do, Scanlan said. A licensed designer who has designed the Bluff Country LLC project has proven success in the past, he added.
Scanlan noted the development is a half mile north of the Brownsville city limits, a quarter mile south of the Spring Hills subdivision, and a mile south of the Brookwood Hills subdivision.
ìItís conducive to whatís going on in that area,î Scanlan said. He said there is little agriculture work in the area and little tillable ground.
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