A standing room only crowd watched with heavy hearts as Alexandria Planning and Zoning commission voted 4-3 in favor of forever changing the face of their subdivision. Several residents were unhappy that they were not allowed to speak on the record in opposition to the store. However, John Jewell, chairman of the P&Z said that no comments were going to be allowed during the meeting.
Earlier in the day over 20 emails were sent back and forth between Summerlake residents and 3 members of city council and the mayor of Alexandria. City council members Barbara Weber, Stacey Graus, and Dave Hart as well as Mayor Rachford all helped everyone understand the process that was going to take place that night. The main topic of conversation during the emails was if city council members had the right to represent the people of Alexandria at Planning and Zoning meetings. The resounding answer was a firm and fearful "NO!". City council years ago had tried to represent the citizens by opposing a Speedway gas station at the corner Poplar Ridge road and US 27. When they were successful in stopping the project Speedway successfully sued the city and members of council and came away victorious. It is very easy to see that this has left a very bad taste in all city council members mouths.
All the hard work and opposition was for not as the meeting ended on a sour note and residents walked away disappointed not only in the vote, but the process that explicitly excluded them from having any say whatsoever in a building that they would have to live with as long as they remained in the subdivision.
Channel 9 news was present for the meeting, their news clip can be viewed here;
Chris Mayhew from the Alexandria Community Recorder was also present. His article can be viewed here;
http://cincinnati.com/blogs/campbellcountyconnects/2011/09/21/alexandria-dollar-general-plans-move-forward/
Chris really did a great job of capturing the meeting on paper.
Alexandria Dollar General plans move forward
By Chris Mayhew • cmayhew@nky.com
ALEXANDRIA – Plans for a new Dollar General store at the entrance to the Summerlake subdivision off U.S. 27 in Alexandria have been approved.
The site plan for a store on land in front of the subdivision previously zoned suitable for highway commercial uses was approved by the Alexandria Planning and Zoning Commission Tuesday, Sept. 20.
A standing room only crowd of more than 60 residents of the subdivision concerned about how the store will impact their property values and the traffic flow around the only entrance to their neighborhood watched the meeting and decision without having a chance to comment.
The commission was serving in an administrative capacity and therefore outside comment was not relative to the decision they had to make about the site plan, said John Jewell, chairman of the P&Z commission at the start of the meeting.
“We will not be taking public testimony tonight,” Jewell said.
Only the question being considered was whether the site plan before the commission complies with the the city’s code of ordinances and zoning laws, he said. To consider other factors would violate Kentucky law, Jewell said.
“Because whether you like it or whether you don’t it, comes down to does it comply to ordinances or does it not,” he said.
Mike Price, of MAP Engineers in Chattanooga, Tenn., presented the site plan for the proposed 9,200-square-foot Dollar General store to be constructed with brick walls on all four sides.
“Dollar General has identified this as an area that they’re interested in locating a store,” Price said.
Price said the plan proposed is a good one and will be a benefit to the community.
Commission member Rick Neltner said he was concerned about truck deliveries tying up the entrance to the subdivision when people were trying to go to work in the mornings.
Price said there are typically two truck deliveries per week to the store and a truck would not take more than one minute to get into the store’s lot and off the subdivision’s entry road.
Jewell said two deliveries per week didn’t sound like much to be concerned about.
As Jewell called for a vote to accept the site plan application two or three different members of the crowd shouted “deny this” and asked commission members to vote against the plan.
Jewell then instructed commission members to disregard the comments and asked Alexandria Police Chief Mike Ward to require the audience to remain silent.
Using a roll call vote, the commission approved the plan by a 4-3 margin. Voting yes were Jewell, Dan Feldman, Rick Neltner and Ron Johnson. Voting no were Sonny Markus, Susi Thomas and Stu Stormer.
The crowd of Summerlake residents left the meeting, and Price spent almost 45 minutes addressing their questions and comments on the city hall steps.
Price said his client intends to build on the site and asking them to move it somewhere else was “non-starter” and not a compromise.
The property owners want to make sure it is a property that people would like to have in their community, he said.
“We’re going to work towards putting a store there that will make you all happy at the end of the day,” Price said.
The intent is to start construction as soon as possible, possibly within four to six weeks, he said.
Resident Bryan Chomyszak said to Price that if the store is built, a lot of people will be mad at Dollar General.
Chomyszak said the residents didn’t want the additional traffic a store will bring, and they believe the appearance of the store and signage will hurt their property values.
After speaking with Price, Chomyszak said he was more upset the planning commission didn’t let residents express their comments for the record in the meeting even if the comments couldn’t be considered for the vote.
“I think the citizens are disappointed that the Planning and Zoning Commission did not give us an opportunity to speak,” Chomyszak said.
Resident Tom Schneller said residents, including himself, hadn’t known the property in front of their subdivision was zoned for highway commercial.
“That’s the problem, it shouldn’t have been zoned commercial,” Schneller said
ALEXANDRIA – Plans for a new Dollar General store at the entrance to the Summerlake subdivision off U.S. 27 in Alexandria have been approved.
The site plan for a store on land in front of the subdivision previously zoned suitable for highway commercial uses was approved by the Alexandria Planning and Zoning Commission Tuesday, Sept. 20.
A standing room only crowd of more than 60 residents of the subdivision concerned about how the store will impact their property values and the traffic flow around the only entrance to their neighborhood watched the meeting and decision without having a chance to comment.
The commission was serving in an administrative capacity and therefore outside comment was not relative to the decision they had to make about the site plan, said John Jewell, chairman of the P&Z commission at the start of the meeting.
“We will not be taking public testimony tonight,” Jewell said.
Only the question being considered was whether the site plan before the commission complies with the the city’s code of ordinances and zoning laws, he said. To consider other factors would violate Kentucky law, Jewell said.
“Because whether you like it or whether you don’t it, comes down to does it comply to ordinances or does it not,” he said.
Mike Price, of MAP Engineers in Chattanooga, Tenn., presented the site plan for the proposed 9,200-square-foot Dollar General store to be constructed with brick walls on all four sides.
“Dollar General has identified this as an area that they’re interested in locating a store,” Price said.
Price said the plan proposed is a good one and will be a benefit to the community.
Commission member Rick Neltner said he was concerned about truck deliveries tying up the entrance to the subdivision when people were trying to go to work in the mornings.
Price said there are typically two truck deliveries per week to the store and a truck would not take more than one minute to get into the store’s lot and off the subdivision’s entry road.
Jewell said two deliveries per week didn’t sound like much to be concerned about.
As Jewell called for a vote to accept the site plan application two or three different members of the crowd shouted “deny this” and asked commission members to vote against the plan.
Jewell then instructed commission members to disregard the comments and asked Alexandria Police Chief Mike Ward to require the audience to remain silent.
Using a roll call vote, the commission approved the plan by a 4-3 margin. Voting yes were Jewell, Dan Feldman, Rick Neltner and Ron Johnson. Voting no were Sonny Markus, Susi Thomas and Stu Stormer.
The crowd of Summerlake residents left the meeting, and Price spent almost 45 minutes addressing their questions and comments on the city hall steps.
Price said his client intends to build on the site and asking them to move it somewhere else was “non-starter” and not a compromise.
The property owners want to make sure it is a property that people would like to have in their community, he said.
“We’re going to work towards putting a store there that will make you all happy at the end of the day,” Price said.
The intent is to start construction as soon as possible, possibly within four to six weeks, he said.
Resident Bryan Chomyszak said to Price that if the store is built, a lot of people will be mad at Dollar General.
Chomyszak said the residents didn’t want the additional traffic a store will bring, and they believe the appearance of the store and signage will hurt their property values.
After speaking with Price, Chomyszak said he was more upset the planning commission didn’t let residents express their comments for the record in the meeting even if the comments couldn’t be considered for the vote.
“I think the citizens are disappointed that the Planning and Zoning Commission did not give us an opportunity to speak,” Chomyszak said.
Resident Tom Schneller said residents, including himself, hadn’t known the property in front of their subdivision was zoned for highway commercial.
“That’s the problem, it shouldn’t have been zoned commercial,” Schneller said
(Council members Scott Fleckinger, Robert Simon and Joseph Anderson did not answer or participate in ANY email conversations during this whole process. A fact that should not be lost on the people of Summerlake next time they vote for city council members)
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