Cookeville City Council unanimously advanced a rezoning request Thursday night allowing for potential new residential development in the Shepherd Hills neighborhood.
The rezoning along Dogwood Circle and Forrest Road raised concerns from residents about traffic and flooding. Resident Mark Lynam said the increase in housing would impact the aesthetic.
“I do think that in a neighborhood that has now been established for 60 years, it has a look and a feel to it,” Lynam said. “And as was alluded to just a moment ago, the higher density that was brought online in 2005 is very incongruous with what currently exists and has existed for 60 years.”
Dogwood Circle resident Didi Cooper told council members residents are not opposed to development of the property but want it developed under the existing RS-15 zoning.
“We’re not against building, we’re not against property development, we’re not against any of those things,” Cooper said.
Cooper said residents purchased homes with the understanding that the neighborhood was primarily RS-15 and questioned changing the zoning to accommodate a denser development. She said the difference between the two zoning classifications could amount to roughly 10 additional homes based on estimates residents had received.
Lynam said he is also concerned additional development could increase traffic around a blind curve near his Shepherd Hills Road home. The ordinance will return to the council for a second reading.
Community Development Director Jon Ward told council members any development of the property would have to undergo the city’s full review process and comply with stormwater requirements.
Ward said the city regulates identified sinkhole and closed-depression areas through an overlay zone requiring additional development controls. He said the property under consideration does not currently show an indication of those conditions through the city’s regulatory process.
Residents also questioned whether additional development could worsen existing drainage conditions. Ward said the property generally drains from east to west and acknowledged water moves through the site.
“There is drainage coming down the hill,” Ward said. “But that will be accounted for in the site plan engineering process.”
Ward estimated RS-10 zoning could result in a development containing somewhere in the mid-20s in total lots, although he stressed an actual development plan has not been submitted. He said a previous sewer capacity approval contemplated 32 lots under a denser RS-7.5 proposal, which was not the zoning before the council Thursday.
Under RS-10 zoning, Ward said lots must have a minimum width of 75 feet, compared with 100 feet under RS-15. He pointed to the nearby Forest Cove Lane subdivision as an example of a potential development pattern, with a new street ending in a cul-de-sac and homes on both sides.
The Cookeville Planning Commission previously considered a request for the property to be rezoned to the denser RS-7.5 classification but instead recommended RS-10 for the council’s consideration.
Thursday’s vote does not finalize the rezoning. The ordinance must return to the Cookeville City Council for second and final reading.