Oak Ridge Homeowners Association

The 5 acres of undeveloped land on the south side of Hwy 119, between the Parkside Subdivision and Gary?’s Barber shop, has been for sale for some time now. The owner, Richard Walter, is considering the sale of the property to Danny Bowers for the purposes of constructing a Chevron convenience store and gas station with 5 pumps. Layout of the station will be similar to the Chevron station on Hwy 280 across from the entrance to the Summit Shopping Center. The land is presently located in the unincorporated portion of Shelby County. However, at the April 13 Planning and Zoning Committee meeting, the Indian Springs Zoning Committee agreed to recommend rezoning of the property to allow for use as a convenience store, subject to annexation of the property into the Indian Springs Village City Limits. The present owner of the property does not object to the annexation.

Considerations:

- Convenience store will likely add to the traffic congestion already experienced on the same stretch of Hwy 119
- Safety issue, with pedestrians crossing the road from Heardmont Park and nearby homes to visit the store
- More bright lights at night
- Possible adverse impact on property values

What do you think?

Public Hearing May 18

The Indian Springs Village Town Council Meeting was held on April 20, at 7:00 p.m. The Oak Ridge Subdivision was represented by Mark Coby, Mike Allain, Mike Garrett, and Joe Fleming. The Parkside neighborhood was also well represented by Jeff and Lee Taylor, along with some 20 or so other Parkside residents.

The Zoning Board met last Tuesday (April 13) to consider the preliminary rezoning request for the convenience store. Technically, the rezoning cannot take place until after the property is annexed into the city limits, which has not yet occurred. That is a separate matter. However, the purchase contract on the land is contingent on both the rezoning and annexation being approved by Indian Springs. Tonight, a representative of the Zoning Board (who is also on the Town Council) presented the Board's recommendation to the Town Council that the rezoning request for the convenience store be approved. Before the Town Council makes a decision by voting on the rezoning request, a public hearing must take place. The Council will then take the information presented at the hearing under advisement before voting on the rezoning request.

The Town Council set the date for the public hearing as Tuesday, May 18, at 7:00 p.m. at the Town Hall. If the crowd is large, the hearing will be moved out back to the covered pavilion.

Those who would like to speak at the hearing can place their name on a list at the beginning of the meeting. Speakers do not have to live within the city limits. Written remarks are recommended, since there will be a time limit for each speaker (time limit was not decided). Also, in the interest of time, the same issues should only be raised once. If your issues have already been covered by someone else ahead of you, there is no need to speak. The Mayor said that there would be no advantage to making the same point repeatedly. The Mayor also recommended that the ORHA consider the preparation of a written statement on behalf of the entire neighborhood to be read at the public hearing.

The City Engineer will be on hand at the hearing to answer technical questions. The convenience store developer will also be on hand for questions regarding the proposed project. The same developer, Danny Bowers, previously requested rezoning approval to put the Chevron convenience store in across the street from the Shell station at the corner of Hwy 119 and Caldwell Mill road. That effort was opposed by local residents and eventually defeated. The landowner then logged the land and left the parcel in the condition you see today. The fill dirt dumped on the property is unauthorized and the Town Council has started legal action to have the fill dirt removed.

A copy of this summary will be posted on the www.neighborhoodlink.com website in the ''Talk About It'' section. Between now and May 18, we should make sure everyone in the neighborhood knows about the upcoming public hearing. The Mayor said we could also continue to send mail or email to the Town Council by visiting the Indian Springs Village website at www.indianspringsvillage.org.

6/15/04 Council Meeting Results

The Indian Springs Council Meeting was held June 15, 2004 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., with a full house at the Indian Springs Town Hall. Channel 42 and Channel 13 News were on-hand. Both the Parkside and Oak Ridge subdivisions were well represented, along with representatives from the Bruno School and Catholic School. The developer, Danny Bowers, was present along with his attorney. This was not a public hearing and the time was spent by the Town Council exchanging questions and answers with the developer to gain further clarity on several issues prior to voting on the annexation and rezoning request. Additional questions were raised regarding whether the proposed convenience store would comply with the Indian Springs zoning ordinance. The Town Council also revisited several of the concerns expressed by opponents at the May 18, 2004 Public Hearing. At the end of the meeting, the Mayor allowed one representative from Parkside and one representative from Oak Ridge to make a short statement, along with the owner of the Bruno School property adjacent to the proposed convenience store site. The outcome of the meeting was a decision by the Town Council to delay the vote on annexation and rezoning until the developer prepares and presents a detailed, written, memorandum of agreement/proposal for the convenience store development, so that the Town Council can reach agreement on exactly what they are being asked to vote on. The Mayor said that they might be ready to vote as early as the next Town Council meeting, which would be Tuesday, July 6, at 7:00 p.m. The Council meets the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month. In the meantime, please consider sending an email to the Mayor, or Town Council, to express your views to the Indian Springs web site at www.indianspringsvillage.org.