Commission O.K.s Special Exception

The Jasper County Commissioners held a second public hearing on a proposed special exception allowing a conventional subdivision rather than a conservation subdivision on property on Jackson Lake Road Monday, then voted to approve the exception, with conditions.

The subdivision will contain 222.5 acres, and that will encompass 117 lots. The average lot size is 1.9 acres, developers said, with 77 lots being waterfront, and 40 interior lots. The minimum lot size is one acre. There was some discussion that if developed as a conservation subdivision there could be even more lakefront lots, since smaller lots are allowed in a conservation subdivision.

The main objections raised Monday were the potential damage to Eagle Drive which already is not in good shape, and a concern that another developer could have different ideas for the property.

County attorney David Ozburn assured commissioners whatever stipulations they approve stay with the property, even if it changes hands. Therefore, to change the plan, the process of public hearings would have to start over.

The land involved is the Key estate, and at a previous hearing Pete Malone, one of the owners, said they are concerned about how the land is developed, and although they have been softly marketing it for a decade this is the first plan they felt like was right for the property.

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Commissioner Don Jernigan said he would like to see accel and decel lanes going into the gated community, and the developers assured the commission they would do a traffic study and see if that was needed. At the first hearing, there were many concerns raised about the additional traffic on the already busy road.

After a 40 minute public hearing, then discussion amongst the commissioners, a motion was made to approve the exception, and it passed 4-1, with commissioner Doug Luke dissenting.

Incorporated into the motion was an agreement that the developer would forfeit the $15,000 bond for the road. The motion is for the development as presented, as Mr. Ozburn said, and cannot be changed. It will have private roads in the gated community which will be maintained by the Property Owners Association. Jasper County Water & Sewer will provide water to the development with fire hydrants every 500 feet. There will be individual on an off-site septic.

Individual lots will have their surface area limited to 50 percent of impervious surfaces, meaning the remaining 50 percent of the lot’s surface areas must be left natural, planted in grass or landscaped with surfaces that are not impervious.

The development will be governed by a set of restrictive covenants, and adhering to the county’s building codes, houses will be at least 1,800 sq.ft.