County officials, developers discuss subdivision regulation changes

Published 11:46 am Friday, December 2, 2016

At the end of Monday night’s four-hour Lafayette County Planning Commission meeting, a discussion among a few developers and county officials was held about potential changes to subdivision regulations.

No action was taken and both sides agreed new wording in the language of the changes to the regulations was needed.

One of the main topics of the discussion was means in which to notify property owners via mail who may be impacted by a development. County officials said they have been receiving calls from land owners who are affected by developments stating they have not been notified of public hearings and meetings, which is required through certified letter in the mail.

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The certified letters are going out to the required recipients, but often times they are not being delivered in a timely matter the person who owns the land no longer lives at the address listed or live out of state and the letters are returned. It was suggested possibly using a public carrier such as FedEx or UPS in addition to the certified mail.

Both sides also discussed water regulations, in particular new developments being required to install a certain width pipe in an effort to improve water pressure.

The problem is that some current water systems cannot handle an 8-inch line that some officials think should be the standard. Supervisor Kevin Frye believes the 8-inch line would also improve fire protection and lower insurance costs for residents.

County officials also discussed site plan approval for when a development could actually begin construction.

Developer J.W. McCurdy and engineer Jeff Williams were among the developers who waited out the long meeting and spoke to the commission and county engineer Larry Britt about the potential changes to the regulations.

In other matters

The commission approved a recommendation for a variance request for four lots in Tuscan Hills subdivision.

The commission also gave a recommendation for an antique business to relocate to a converted house on Highway 7.