The Walker County Planning Commission on Thursday night voted unanimously to recommend denial for a rezoning request for a planned 156-unit low income development across from Ridgeland High School.
The final decision will be by the five-member Walker County Commission after a second public hearing on Oct. 14.
County officials had noted that "It was just recently brought to our attention that we inadvertently skipped a step in the rezoning process for 2563 Happy Valley Road. The second public hearing was advertised for Feb. 27, 2020, but on that date, it was postponed and never rescheduled."
Jack Mullinax, who made the motion to deny, said he had made a similar motion after a hearing in February 2020 for traffic and other concerns.
An attorney for the Hutcheson estate said he considered that the property had been rezoned correctly already. He said the property had long been rural, but the former Happy Valley Farms was recently divided up and sold. He said the Gateway Development Corporation would be "good neighbors to Walker County."
Josh Manville of Gateway denied that the apartments would be, or could be in the future, Section 8. He said they would meet the needs of working people who were having more and more difficulty finding a place to live.
He said rentals in Walker County currently are at about a 99 percent fill rate.
Mr. Manville said the apartments would rent for $750 per month for one bedroom, $900 for two bedroom and $1,150 for three bedroom. He said market rate would be much higher.
He said no rent subsidy is involved, and he said tenants are carefully screened, including criminal background checks.
Traffic engineer Steve Meyer said he calculated that the apartments would raise traffic along Happy Valley Road by 2.7 percent in the mornings and four percent in the afternoons.
A number of residents of nearby Mission Glen subdivision spoke against the project and presented a petition bearing 200 names.
They cited increasing traffic, multiple wrecks at the junction of Highway 2A and Happy Valley Road, and concerns about crime and overcrowding of nearby schools.
Paul Wells said a project on a large portion of the farm that is set to bring hundreds of new homes was a good addition, but the low income apartments were not.
Several residents said they had moved to Mission Glen for the rural atmosphere and were opposed to multi-family.
On the crime issue, one man said a nearby store hides its straws to keep them away from drug users. Another said since moving to Mission Glen "I've already been robbed twice."
A nearby resident said multi-family went in behind him and "they shoot guns every night, the music is turned up loud, and the dog craps in my yard."
The Planning Commission gave approval to the plat for the first of four phases of the major new subdivision at the farm. It will include a playground and park area. There will be three entrances to the development, with one aligning with a planned grocery and mixed-use project at the main intersection.