Overdevelopment is a burden on our residents that the City staff and my opponent have permitted. As Mayor, I will not vote to allow any speculative developer to increase the current zoning on their property. I will oppose increasing residential density and converting commercial zoning to residential. 

 

Regularly developers apply to the city for a rezoning, usually for a Planned Unit Development, that significantly increases the number of residential units permissible on the property or converts commercially zoned property to primarily residential units. This increase of allowable residential units adds to the existing problems we are already experiencing such as traffic congestion, infrastructure failure, and school overcrowding. 

 

A current example of the City staff and my opponent's failure to stop overdevelopment is the AMCO development on SR46. This project is the one that included 300 foot tall buildings with 1805 residential units on 36.5 acres near single family home developments North and South. As a member of the Planning and Zoning Commission, I moved to deny the proposal as it exceeded the 100 foot building height limit and its residential density of 49.4 units per acre far exceeded the intended commercial priority of the Wolf Branch Innovation District. My opponent moved to approve the application with only a naive note concerning the height. 

 

My opponent's motion was approved with only my vote against it. The Planning staff gave their recommendation of approval, the Planning and Zoning Commission gave their approval and then the City Council approved the PUD on the first reading. This failure at all levels in the City government to reject the plan immediately has led to extended litigation and costs for the City. This litigation likely will result in the City ignoring the plan for the Wolf Branch Innovation District and allowing overdevelopment of the property. This overdevelopment is exactly the problem I hope to stop.