Malia Riggs
Elmore /Autauga News
The Prattville Planning commission met Thursday night at the City Hall for their monthly meeting which lasted over two hours. Many individuals from the community had a chance to speak during a public hearing.
The meeting started with a few re-zoning adjustments made by the city which were discussed by Mayor Bill Gillespie and the board, with all passing but one.
Drawing the most attention and discussion was a preliminary master plan and the zoning was brought to the board by Forge Residential Partners, a multifamily and development firm out of Birmingham. If it receives final approval from the Prattville City Council, The Cottages at Prattville would be located in the area west of Highway 82 and north of Constitution Avenue. There would also be street access to Coffee Exchange, just south of the Hobby Lobby.
Forge is a new company but between the developer John Baumhauer and his business partner Mike Baker, together they have over 30 years of experience between the two of them, Baumhauer stated at the meeting.
“We understand the community’s concerns and questions. We want to reiterate that we’re doing our best to design a project that specifically meets the needs and goals for the city but also responds to the neighborhood as well,” Baumhauer said.
The cottages will be a build to rent style of housing where it is projected that there will be 234 single and multi-family homes built on 44.89 acres. Construction would take around 18-20 months to complete and the homes would be around 1,000 to 1500 square foot units according to Forge.
“The important thing to know is that when looking at the site plan you might be nervous that you’re seeing a lot of the same thing, that’s not the experience you’re going to have when looking at the site. The buildings will be a variety of different colors and details but also a variety of different elevations to get a complex and interesting experience while walking around and not just a cookie cutter experience,” the architect for The Cottages at Prattville, Eric Wadsworth said.
The Prattville Planning and Development Committee, Forge Residential Partners, members of The Home Place community and members of the Prattville community all voiced their concerns regarding the preliminary plans for the new planned unit development, or PUD, that will potentially locate off of Highway 82.
“We do want this to be a win-win, I’ve lived here 56 years and run a business for 32, (and) we want our community to expand. Home Place is the entire development, it’s not just our area, we are not speaking on behalf of just our neighborhood. We’re talking about how this impacts our entire community and is this the best project for Prattville?” Lane Easterling said.
Numerous members of the Home Place community voiced their concerns on the influx of traffic in the area. They also addressed the increase in population in that area, as well as their property values of Home Place. Those concerns are that homes in Home Place could decline if the rental property is allowed. They also addressed the “cookie cutter housing” which would be near their community.
The board approved the preliminary master plans. This will now go to the city council for a vote which will then set the zoning. The master plan will then have to be approved by the planning commission after city council approval, which will both be public hearings.
