A motion by Ward 1 Alderman Ben Carver to hold public hearings on a proposed one-year moratorium on new apartment construction in Starkville died Tuesday without receiving a second at the table.
Carver’s motion would have started a process to amend city code to restrict new construction of multi-family housing developments for a maximum of one year or once comprehensive planning efforts conclude and a formal guideline is adopted.
The Ward 1 alderman’s call to have public input on how Starkville grows and develops in the next decade fell upon deaf ears at the table Tuesday. Contacted on Thursday, Carver said he would renew efforts to hold public hearings if his constituents continue to complain about issues created by rapid growth.
“We need to at least have workshops so we can give the public a chance to talk about growth,” he said. “We’re elected by the people, and we need to give them the opportunity to come out and speak.”
Carver proposed moratorium after he said numerous residents approached him and complained about the growing number of large-scale apartment complexes under construction in Starkville. He specifically pointed out the Russell Street corridor, which has seen significant commercial and residential developments come to fruition in the last year.
Unchecked, rapid growth, he said, could create infrastructure problems — traffic congestion and sub-standard road conditions — in Starkville similar to the ones Oktibbeha County supervisors are dealing with along Blackjack and Oktoc roads.
As he pitched the proposed hearings Tuesday, Carver said he is concerned with corporate housing — companies that come in, “make a buck” and leave — and the potential of unmaintained urban sprawl in the future.
Ward 4 Alderman Jason Walker, the only alderman to speak against the proposal, said the moratorium would force developments into the county, where there are no building codes or zoning requirements.
An early draft of Starkville’s upcoming comprehensive plan suggests the city annex the outlying county areas that border Mississippi State University. Walker said following through with that plan would mean the city would inherit buildings and infrastructure that do not conform to city codes.
Walker said Caver’s concerns are valid, but the city should wait on its comprehensive plan — and subsequent code rewrite — before attempting additional changes to development policies.
Officials reviewed a first draft of the upcoming comprehensive plan last month and sent revisions back to its author, the Tennessee-based Walker Collaborative.
Once the document is finished and adopted, code formatting efforts are expected to make Starkville’s development rules more user-friendly with the additional of visual elements — charts, graphs and other graphics — and the removal of redundant text.
Two major problems Community Development Director Buddy Sanders previously said the process will also address: Starkville has more than 20 zoning designations — almost one for every 1,000 residents — and a subdivision ordinance rooted in the 1970s.
Eliminating duplicity, modernizing rules and making codes easier to follow should provide the biggest and most immediate impact for developers, Sanders said last summer after aldermen began the planning effort.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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