Starkville’s Planning and Zoning Commission gave a nod to final plat approval for a planned expansion of the Country Club Estates subdivision on Wednesday.
The commission met for a special-call meeting to approve the matter so it can go before the board of aldermen Tuesday.
Wednesday’s vote gave the final approval needed from the commission for the Country Club Estates phase 3B, which has 16 lots for new houses on a 10.95-acre parcel of land. The new phase is located at the east end of Turnberry Lane and Cypress Point Road, just north of the Starkville Country Club.
Commission Chairman Mike Brooks and members Jim McReynolds, Tom Walker, Tommy Verdell and Jeremiah Dumas voted to give the final plat approval. Commission members Jason Camp and Alexis Gregory were absent from Wednesday’s meeting.
The project received preliminary approval from the commission earlier this year, and from aldermen in August. With Wednesday’s commission vote, the expansion will go before the board for final approval.
Once that’s done, and a series of conditions are approved — most of which are meant to ensure the development meets city and state requirements and that the city receives proper documentation of the plat — the plat can be recorded at the Oktibbeha County Chancery Clerk’s office and lots can be sold.
During the meeting, the commissioners also approved a condition that storm water drainage on private property in the development is the responsibility of the homeowners association, rather than the city.
Brooks said the development got pushed ahead of the board’s regular meeting in order to get it on the agenda for the Nov. 7 alderman meeting.
Local developer Frank Jones is spearheading the project.
“There was some urgency in this one in that Mr. Jones has worked really hard to get everything ready,” Brooks said. “He wanted to get this thing before the board of aldermen next week. He made a request for a special call and we agreed to take a look at it this week.”
Jones said the new phase is planned to have a few different home sizes, and costs will likely range from $300,000 to $800,000.
Jones said he has more expansions planned.
“This is the first of three more phases that will finish out the subdivision,” he said. “We’re excited about it. A lot of people are ready to build in there. We’ve got contracts on it so I think you’re going to see a lot of building pretty quick in there.
“We’ll get to the other phases coming up in the next month or so,” he added. “We’ve got more coming.”
Brooks said the Country Club Estates expansion is a good project, and good for Starkville. With many of the lots already under contract, Brooks said, the faster it can receive its final approval, the faster those new homes can be built.
“This is an additional phase of an existing subdivision,” he said. “There are some 86 lots in the first few. If you go there, it’s practically built out with upscale homes. That tells you there is a demand, so we wanted to hurry up to help give the residents of Starkville what they were looking for.
“There’s obviously a demand for these lots and this is where people want to be,” he added.
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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