By Andrew Edwards
Staff Writer
The highlight of the Prattville City Council meeting on March 3, 2020 saw the ordinance to rezone the Park Lane property near Camellia Estates approved on a 5-2 decision. Marcus Jackson and Albert Striplin voted no against the ordinance while Denise Brown, Jerry Starnes, Richard Cables, Robert Strichik and Lora Lee Boone voted yes.
Before the vote, several Prattville citizens showed up to voice their concerns about the proposed ordinance that would allow the City of Prattville and Jim Marshall (with Larry Speaks & Associates) to complete a compromise that the two parties have worked towards for months.
The compromise is that the city would rezone their “Park Lane” property [see image] located near Camellia Estates from R-2/R-3/R-5 to just R-3 (single-family residential). In return, Marshall would give the City of Prattville the “Pecan Grove” property [see image] located near Mac Gray Park.
To clarify, Marshall originally was going to build homes on the Pecan Grove property. The city intervened and wanted to save that green space for public use. Therefore, they created this agreement so that the city could take that space and use it to potentially build nice walking trails through those woods, construct picnic tables, etc.
Mayor Bill Gillespie says Marshall and the City of Prattville could have made this land swap at any time. The only reason it was brought to city council was for rezoning purposes.
Even if the rezoning had been shot down, the two parties still could have made the trade. Marshall would have just built 116 homes instead of the newly proposed 86 (the number he could build after it was zoned to R-3).
Gillespie says the two parties have not officially made the trade, and that they will continue their ongoing negotiations. He will have an update about the negotiations at the next City Council meeting on March 17.
The City of Prattville would like to get this deal done as soon as possible because they want to start working out the details of their Pecan Grove Project and begin on Mac Gray Park 2.0. Mac Gray Park 2.0 would be located where the old Gloria Plant was on the corner of MLK Drive, and would be home to a few new softball fields.
In turn, the city would tear up half of the older softball fields at Newton Park and build nicer, newer tennis counts. This would open up grant possibilities and bring more money to the City of Prattville.
Many citizens in Prattville have expressed concerns about this ordinance in the past, predominantly focusing on the extra traffic that these new homes would bring to the homeowners in Camellia Estates.
Many of the homeowners there have had to deal with terrible traffic and speeding for years, specifically on Magnolia Drive. They are afraid that these homes will bring more traffic to an area that is already greatly impacted by speeding.
“It can take some time and effort to stop speeding troubles. We would like to put in some speed detectors in the neighborhood – some you can see, some you can’t. We also will continue to build our law enforcement presence in that area as well,” Gillespie said.
This brings us back to Tuesday night, and a new issue has risen in Camellia Estates.
Sewage.
Many concerned citizens brought forth their recent troubles with sewage backup in their homes. They expressed their concern that more homes being built would magnify their troubles, but it was quickly noted by city officials that their issues are more likely than not stemming from lateral pipelines – not the city pipes. Lateral pipelines are strictly the homeowner’s responsibility.
It was noted by Mayor Gillespie that smoke tests will be used in that area once the rain subsides to potentially find any cracks or holes in the homeowner’s lateral lines.
Moreover, Gillespie is doing everything he can to fix the sewage issues in that area.
“Right now, I’m speaking with Senator Clyde Chambliss to get legislation passed to help these individuals,” Gillespie said. “The potential plan is called LRAP (Lateral Rehab Assistance Program) and it will let the City of Prattville loan these individuals money, interest-free. It will help them pay for a certified plumber that will help with their sewage troubles. The money loaned will just be added to their water bill at the end of the month,” Gillespie said.
There are many legal obstacles to overcome, but Gillespie is optimistic that the plan will eventually come into fruition.
After all the voting took place, a dispute broke out between two city council representatives, Marcus Jackson and Lora Lee Boone because Jackson’s request to table the ordinance until the next meeting was denied.
As for the up and coming 86 homes, City Planner Scott Stephens says the next step will take place on March 19 when Larry Speaks will bring the preliminary plat for the subdivision to the planning commission meeting.
