A short-handed Starkville Planning and Zoning Commission chose to wait until it was at full strength before deciding on one developer”s request to build condominiums in the former University Inn Tuesday night, while flatly denying another request.
The meeting almost ended early as three of the seven commissioners couldn”t attend, prompting City Attorney Chris Latimer to announce the commission didn”t meet the quorum requirements set forth in its bylaws that five commissioners be present. However, after a few moments of quick review, Latimer announced the city ordinance only required a majority be present to form a quorum, meaning the board”s bylaws conflict with city ordinance, but the meeting could continue.
Larry Tabor, of Tabor Properties LLC, appeared before the commission for a public hearing regarding his plans to renovate the 100-room motel into 50 $80,000 condos. Specifically, he was requesting conditional use to allow multi-family residential condos in a C-2 (general business) zone.
No citizens spoke for or against the idea, but the board twice remained silent when Commission Chair Dora Herring asked for a motion to approve or deny Tabor”s request.
Both times Tabor began talking just before Herring seemed ready to break the silence by declaring the request dead. Commissioner Jerry Emison spoke up after the first call for motion, voicing his concern the condos, which will be marketed to Mississippi State alumni as homes away from home during trips to Starkville, would eventually be rented out by the owners, becoming de facto apartments.
“That might be a great idea, but it might not,” said Emison, concerned apartments may not fit with the personality of the proposed, adjacent CottonMill Marketplace.
Tabor said he had spoken with CottonMill developers and they planned to build a parking garage surrounded by student apartments. Still, no motion was made a second time.
Latimer notified the commissioners that if no motion was made then the request would die, thus preventing Tabor from appealing the commission”s decision. If unable to appeal, commission bylaws state Tabor would be forced to wait six months before bringing a similar request before the board.
“The safe thing would be to make a motion and give him the appeal process,” said Latimer.
Emison asked City Planner Ben Griffith if a condition could be added to the zoning decision requiring the condos be owner-occupied. Griffith responded the condition could be added, but the city could not enforce it. Tabor offered to put an age restriction in place as he has at his other Starkville developments, Annabella and Academy Place, where tenants must be at least 21 years old. But again, Emison pointed out the other condo owners could choose to ignore the rule.
With the commission at a loss for answers, Commissioner John Moor moved the issue be tabled for consideration at the next Planning & Zoning meeting, June 8. The motion passed unanimously before Tabor could point out to the commission that his option to purchase the property expired on June 6.
The board conferred and decided to hold a special called meeting within the next couple weeks at which all commissioners could be present. Emison asked Tabor to consider amending his plan prior to the special meeting to address the concerns over the condos being rented.
“It just feels to me like we”d be signing off on student housing,” Emison reiterated.
Tabor”s condo development is still up in the air, but developer John Hartlein”s plan to build similar condos on South Washington Street came crashing down at Tuesday”s meeting.
The commission roundly praised Hartlein for his work in Starkville but made it clear they weren”t interested in allowing him to build condos on South Washington Street.
Hartlein requested a zoning change from C-2 to PUD (planned unit development) at 214 S. Washington St., where an empty metal building now stands. He proposed demolishing the building and erecting a 16-unit condominium project, also to be marketed to alumni as second homes.
Making his case to the commission, Hartlein asserted the area was “clearly miszoned” since the former electrical contracting business housed in the metal building closed.
Five South Washington residents agreed with Hartlein that a commercial business was out of place in the neighborhood, but argued condos wouldn”t be any better.
Attorney Jeff Hosford, who owns two plots on South Washington, voiced his concern the condos would end up as student housing within the next 10 years, meaning the 28-space parking lot would not be empty most of the time as Hartlein suggested and would create a traffic problem. He also claimed the condos, regardless of style or quality, would not fit the personality of the neighborhood.
Shawn Sullivan, Starkville High School band director, who also lives on South Washington near the proposed condos, said the street already has a problem with speeding cars. A parking lot would only exacerbate the problem, he offered.
Nancy Cook Ball, a lifelong South Washington resident whose uncle owned the former electrical contracting business and requested the business zoning, said the railroad bridge over South Washington poses two problems with regard to multi-tenant housing. First, large vehicles, including moving vans, won”t fit under the bridge. Second, garbage on South Washington is picked up in a pickup truck due to the low bridge, but a multi-tenant unit could produce more trash than a pickup could carry in one trip.
The board voted unanimously to deny Hartlein”s request for a zoning change, with Emison adding the decision was based on land use because a PUD was inappropriate for the intended purpose.
Hartlein has five days to appeal the commission”s decision.
In other business, the commission granted Pinelake Church”s request to convert a former car lot on Highway 25 into a worship center and approved developer Mike Brent”s revised subdivision plats for Stark Crossing, at the northeast intersection of Eudora Welty and Abernathy Drives. Brent”s revised plan includes 10 lots for the 40-acre site; the revision includes an additional lot for an unidentified commercial development.
Representatives for Pinelake said the former Team Chevrolet site, which already has more than 300 parking spots, would be heavily renovated on the inside while a few elements would be added to the exterior to “make it look like a church.”
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.