Malia Riggs
Elmore Autauga News
The Prattville Planning Commission heard from Forge Residential Partners at Barrett-Simpson Inc. again with two separate public hearings, where business regarding The Cottages at Prattville was postponed until next month’s Planning Commission meeting.
The commission voted first on the preliminary Platt and then the Planned Unit Development or PUD plan for the proposed project on Highway 82 and Constitution Avenue.
The Birmingham developers are looking to build the “new” project, which will house 192 total units as opposed to the previous project’s 234 single and multi-family homes built on 44.89 acres.
Forge stated the changes made are taking into consideration the feedback from the previous project plan, feedback from the members of Homeplace, the city council and planning commission while also being fully compliant with the PUD zoning ordinances to the city of Prattville.
John Baumhauer and his business partner Mike Baker, as well as architect Eric Wadsworth and other members of the firm were in attendance to answer questions for what they need to move forward if they are fully compliant.
A big topic for debate during the meeting was the proposed public road through the center of the property. Due to the current zoning of the property with a portion being commercial, access needs to remain public due to that zoning, Forge confirms.
During the public comment portion of the meeting, members of the Homeplace community openly spoke their concerns and disapproval of this project. Many Homeplace residents stated that their main concerns are crime that follows rental properties and the alleged potential traffic upheaval an additional rental complex could bring to the area.
Back and forth between the commission, Prattville Mayor Bill Gillespie and Forge Residential lasted over an hour. The preliminary Plat was voted down 5-2 with Gillespie and commissioner Robert King voting down. Prattville City Planner Scott Stephens confirmed for a Plat to be approved, it needs six votes to pass. Gillespie stated there are still too many unknowns to vote in favor, and King stated he wants to listen to the residents of Homeplace who live close to the project.
Due to the Plat’s motion failing, Forge stated they are at a loss and can’t provide information that was not requested by the city or the commission ahead of time, which was a topic of debate during the meeting.
To move this forward Forge will have to reapply for the request to resubmit the Preliminary Plat at a later date. Due to the Plat being voted down, Forge opted to postpone the PUD plan until next month’s Planning Commission meeting.
The Commission also voted on Preliminary Plots time extensions for the Highland Ridge Subdivision. The petitioners, Flowers & White Engineering LLC, submitted four Preliminary Plots for the Commission’s approval.
Flowers & White stated that phases one and two are currently under construction and three and four will follow consecutively.
The delay was caused by a land dispute that was resolved, a sinkhole that was found once the clearing of part of the property began, weather delays and other unforeseen challenges that pushed production back about six weeks, Flowers & White confirmed. Flowers & White also confirmed that the construction for phase one is projected to be finished in February.
With this new subdivision, there were some agreements regarding the approval of this project from the Planning Commission March 2023 meeting, where Gillespie stated that part of said agreements was to have a private road to the site to keep construction equipment off public and neighborhood roads. Gillespie stated that it’s a matter of trust in order to have a good product for the community or current residents who are traveling around this product.
The Commission granted the extension for Plot one, where the Commission will vote on this Plat January 29, 2025. Plot two was granted an extension for 30 days, and Plots three and four were both downvoted and will be resubmitted at a later date.
