The Cookeville Planning Commission approved a preliminary plat Monday to establish new streets and right-of-way dedications for the planned VA clinic near Neal Street.
Community Development Director Jon Ward said the project involves the construction of a new public street called Truitt Drive and the extension of Guardian Way to provide access to the facility. Ward said the subject property consists of nearly one acre of land currently zoned for regional commercial use.
“Public Works staff and other City staff have noted that if Guardian Way is to be extended and dedicated as a public street, the existing cul-de-sac needs to be eliminated,” Ward said. “The street extension would need to meet city construction standards and provide proper design standards for safe travel and striping of lanes through the entire segment.”
Ward said Truitt Drive will be restricted to right-in, right-out access at its intersection with Neal Street. Ward said the developers requested a variance to reduce the landscape strip width from 10 feet to five feet to avoid electric utilities overhead.
“There’s an existing TVA easement there and they’re trying to keep all of the pavement surface outside of that proposed easement, so they’ve shifted the street to the east within the right-of-way,” Ward said.
Ward said the new alignment requires right-of-way adjustments from the Golden Oak Dentistry and Cookeville Church of Christ properties.
“In this scenario, the city would exchange excess right-of-way from eliminating the cul-de-sacs to both properties for the right-of-way necessary for a continuous street alignment,” Ward said. “Both Golden Oak Dentistry and the Cookeville Church of Christ representatives have been contacted and have verbally agreed to the proposed street alignment.”
Ward said the commission granted a conditional 90-day approval to allow the developers to finalize revisions with their surveyors. Ward said the city needs a better understanding of the specific right-of-way acquisitions and swaps required for the continuous street alignment.
“So we’ll be asking the developers to get with their surveyor to get those revisions made, and in doing that, we’ll have a better understanding of what the right-of-way acquisitions and swaps would look like with the adjacent property owners,” Ward said.
Construction on the new VA clinic is expected to begin soon off Neal Street.