Rezoning considered for more residential in East County

Two more rezones for developments in East County were discussed at the Aug. 17 land use meeting.

The developments are a D.R. Horton project to build 99 town homes on Linger Lodge Road and a Sand Branch LLC project to add 57 single-family homes to the previously approved 195 homes in the Hillwood development along Waterline Road. 

The Hillwood extension passed unanimously without many objections, but Mark Vanderee for the Waterline Road Preservation Group asked commissioners to require Sand Branch to fill out a new application instead of adding to what’s already been approved. 

“We’re not opposed to the development,” Vanderee said. “My concern here is that when you approve this, we’re going to lose the intent and the language of the original rezone, and the developer can go back and clearcut all that buffer that was originally required. We don’t want that.”

While his request wasn’t granted, Vanderee’s concerns were addressed by county staff and lawyers for Sand Branch, who stated that once a parcel is platted, any changes would need to go before the commission again. The approximately 20-acre extension does not extend to the agreement for the 78 acres already platted. 

The Linger Lodge Road project was continued to Sept. 7 per the applicant’s request, giving residents more time to rally. 

Lisa Pring, president of the Braden Woods Homeowners Association, Phases 1-4, spoke at the planning committee meeting when the application was first presented. Five residents joined her, but she’s hoping more will attend the commission meeting.

Braden Woods resident Gary Hebert started a petition on Change.org that has received over 2,100 signatures asking the commissioners to vote down the project. Speeding on Braden Run, displaced wildlife and a disappearing canopy are the major concerns for residents. 

“We don’t live in Braden Fields. We live in Braden Woods,” Pring said. “Our oak trees are a precious commodity. You can’t grow those in a lifetime.”

Pring has lived along Braden Run for 10 years. She already sees cars speeding by her house, so added cars from another development are concerning. With or without an approval, she’s working on slowing drivers down. Pring asked for and received some advice from Commissioner George Kruse.

“I told her at my town hall, when she asked about traffic solutions to the speeding cars, that she can request that the county look into solutions such as speed tables,” Kruse said. “I used the example of Twin Rivers. They asked for us to review and we did a full study. They put together their own data and a petition. Once the study was done, we installed temporary speed tables to test it out.”

D.R. Horton is requesting to rezone 17.8 acres out of the 34.5-acre site. The project will go before the board on Sept. 7 at the land use meeting. Meetings are held at the County Administration Building and begin at 9 a.m.