INGALLS — A proposed real estate development received a positive recommendation from the Ingalls Planning Commission Monday, July 3. The town council will now decide whether the project can move forward.
The commission heard testimony from Adam Mears from Gradison Land Development, the company that proposed the Oakhurst development, which will consist of 110 cottage style homes with a price range of $180,000 to $220,000. The addition is on a 32.5 acres of land at the southeast corner of County Road 800 South and Atlantic.
Town manager Tim Millikin said if the council agrees with the commission’s recommendation, the matter could be finalized by the end of July.
“The final reading could be at the July 10 meeting,” he said. “I say possibly because sometimes the development could take a couple weeks so we don’t have so much at one meeting; we may have another development coming in from Arbor Homes on that same day, so we’ll have to see how that works out.”
The public hearing, scheduled for the regular council meeting of July 10, was postponed to July 24.
Millikin said he favors approval of the project, although there are a few details to be worked out, including regulations governing the installation by homeowners of storage barns, distance between the homes and safeguards around a retention pond in the addition.
“I do support a favorable recommendation by the planning commission to the Ingalls Town Council to accept Gradison Land Development’s petition,” he said. “I know the council has talked about this in the past, but we want to look at the homeowner’s ability to put in a mini-barn. We’ve seen in our other subdivision, people’s garages are so full, that leads to on-street parking, and we want to avoid that.”
Local resident Robert Imel spoke to a concern he had regarding fire safety, feeling that the distance between the buildings, a proposed 10 feet, may not be enough.
“If the houses are going to be built so close together, they need to be made as fireproof as possible,” Imel said. “There is high danger of catching neighbor’s house on fire.”
He added that the use of vinyl siding of the style these homes will have can heighten that risk.
“When you wrap a home in petroleum products, and vinyl siding is, they’re going to catch fire,” Imel said. “Firemen don’t have a chance to put the fire out.”
Town Council President Tim Green, although not a member of the planning commission, expressed his view. He didn’t share the concern about vinyl siding but said he was worried about the space between the homes.
“I have no problem with vinyl siding,” Green said. “Ninety percent of the homes out there are vinyl siding. Vinyl melts, but a wood home burns, and a brick home would burn, but the bricks would remain unburned. I think we need to sit down and look at going toward a 7-foot per side, or 14-foot between the homes, that would keep the wind from blowing a fire from house to house.”
Mears did not commit to adding space between the homes but said it was worth reexamining.
“Certainly, understanding what Mr. Green said, it’s something we’re happy to discuss,” Mears said. “To be able to add that difference, we’d lose a number of lots. But it’s something we can discuss going through planning.”
Georgia Parker is a council member who is on the planning commission, and she expressed her reservations about the distance between homes as well.
“I do think getting a little more distance between the houses is a good idea,” she said.
Further discussions on the petition will take place at the regularly scheduled Ingalls Council meeting on Monday, July 24.