JEFFERSONVILLE — The Clark County Planning Commission has approved the preliminary plat for a controversial conservation subdivision, the first in the county — and possibly last.
This subdivision is in Memphis. The commission previously heard the specific plan at its meeting July 9, in which it decided to table the plat from the applicant Columbus Mann Development.
This plat contains 610 lots across 188 acres on a parcel located on the southeast side of Crone Road with homes developed by Premier Homes. Almost 73 acres, which is 38.6%, would be open space. The ordinance requires 25% of the land to be open space. This land would be controlled by the homeowners association.
The meeting Wednesday in Jeffersonville did not necessitate another public comment section because public comment was already heard at the July 9 meeting.
Previous plans for this land were originally 550 homes, but the request was withdrawn after community criticism. According to the county’s Unified Development Ordinance, a conservation subdivision does not require a zoning change and can be built on land that is zoned general agriculture.
Since the last meeting, Clark County Planning and Zoning Department Executive Director Eric Wise said some of the lots in the plat that were less than 20 feet were extended.
The lawyer for the developer, John Kraft, discussed an email he had received that was submitted to the plan commission office.
Cara Kennedy’s parents live adjacent to this development. She said this email was written by Kennedy and other concerned residents, expressing their various concerns about the development, since they knew they wouldn’t be able to speak at this meeting.
“Those conclusions I think are inaccurate statements of the law,” Kraft said.
Kraft said that at this point, the commission simply must go through a “administerial” duty by approving the plat.
“We believe that we have met all the requirements,” Kraft said.
At the end of the plan commission meeting, Wise brought forward a suggestion to possibly move forward with an amendment to delete the section pertaining to conservation subdivisions in the UDO.
This was approved, and a public hearing on this amendment will be at the next plan commission meeting on Sept. 10, and possibly approved by the Clark County Commissioners. He said it would be up to the plan commission if they want to modify and reimplement the conservation subdivision.
Kennedy said that the approval of the plat is “disappointing,” and is hoping that the concerns they had regarding the subdivision are considered as it moves forward.
“I was hopeful that they would take into consideration the community’s effort,” she said.
She said they have concerns still with traffic and drainage. She said she also feels that this desire to remove the conservation subdivision from the UDO indicates to her that this was not a good idea for the community in the first place.
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