One of the items on the Southaven Board of Aldermen agenda Tuesday night needed a zoning change, but a development on the north side of Stateline Road and east of Getwell at the city’s north entrance will move forward with the zoning change.
It’s on land that was zoned C-4 planned commercial, but it will now be part of a planned unit development, or PUD.
Named Monahan Farms, the 70-acre development is meant as an office/retail buffering transition from the distribution centers north of the state line in Tennessee and residential subdivisions to the south in Southaven. It will provide commercial opportunities on Getwell Road, a business center in the middle of the development and offer small business and office availability.
Serv Pro is setting up a new office north of the TVA power line and the development is being put together as part of the relocation.
Mayor Darren Musselwhite said the city has been selective in what is established there along the state line and the Monahan Farms development provides a proper buffer between the homes and distribution centers in Tennessee.
He said there were several developers that had asked about the land but this project fit what was needed.
“We have an obligation to protect our city and our property values and sometimes you have to say no,” Musselwhite said. “It’s a high profile corner and a grand entrance to our city at Getwell and Stateline, so we want to be careful about what goes there. We have an obligation to people who own property, especially in the residential areas, that there is a proper buffer and a good transition area design.”
Planning Director Whitney Choat-Cook said there would be restrictions on what could go into the development.
“We did ask them to remove car washes, C-stores, liquor stores, bait stores, all those ‘lovely things’ we’re trying to do away with here,” Choat-Cook said.
During the planning commission hearing, Choat-Cook said there was some residential opposition to the plans, based on false information that had been spread about. However, the opposition changed to support after the proposal was fully explained to them.
The planning agenda item was given the go-ahead, as was a zoning change after a public hearing brought no public comment.
RUBBISH ORDINANCE CHANGE AHEAD: Mayor Darren Musselwhite commented during his Mayor’s Report portion of the meeting an adjustment to the rubbish ordinance is ahead for aldermen to consider at the next meeting. The new language would require a property owner to have a contractor remove rubbish, such as a major amount of brush or a tree being removed, when it is taken down. Musselwhte said there have been too many incidences of large amounts of brush and branches left on the curb for weeks at a time, with the property owner expecting the city to remove it.
“In our rubbish contract there is a limit on the volume of the load that the contract picks up,” the mayor explained. “Occasionally we’ll have some that have a massive project where they’re renovating their house or landscaping and a massive amount of rubbish is left.”
