In a two-hour meeting tonight (6.20.19) the MPC/DRC (Municipal Planning Commission/Design Review Commission) approved all three items on the agenda including an ALDI grocery store in Lakeland.
The agenda items included:
- The outline plan and final plat for The Collection at Lakeland at the northeast corner of Canada Road and U.S. Highway 64 which could include restaurants, a gas station, convenience store, storage facility and 14 residential lots.
- The preliminary development plan and site plan for an ALDI grocery store which is to front Highway 64 between the existing McDonald’s and Krystal restaurants. It is to be 20,442 square-feet with 97 parking spaces.
- The final subdivision plan for Winstead Farms PD, phase 2
Scott Martsolf, director of real estate for ALDI, said he hopes construction on the grocery can start this year, opening in 2020.
Absent for the regular meeting were members Nicki Bufalino and Todd Laessig.
The first item on the agenda was divided into two motions and both were approved in a 4-1 vote with Vice Chair Scott Carmichael voting no. There were nine conditions added to those resolutions including a 10 p.m. closing time for a storage facility, an effective property owners association and maintenance of buffers alongside the existing residential neighborhood.
Forrest Owens, Lakeland city planning director, and a spokesperson for the development, Cory Brady with Integrated Land Solutions, emphasized the suggestions of vendors for the project were not firm decisions and would have to come back to the MPC/DRC and the BOC (Board of Commissioners) for approval.
Item two on the agenda was also divided into two motions, each passing on a 5-0 vote. The Winstead Farms item was also approved unanimously.
Numerous residents of Woodland Park, which is to the north of the 17-acre development, attended the meeting to voice their concerns about the project.
For about an hour, MPC members and residents reviewed the planned mixed-use area, questioning the suggested tenants for the property or whether the project should even be allowed.
The lawyer father of a Woodland Park resident said he didn’t like all the “could be” in the proposal.
A second person said he was against the project because of increased crime from the convenience store. He asked Commission members how they would feel if the development was in their back yards.
Traffic was also an expressed issue, with several Woodland Park residents noting it is already difficult to turn left to go south on Canada Road. There was also mention of apartments.
Emily Harrell, city engineer, said it might be possible to do a traffic study in the future to determine if a traffic light or blinking light was warranted.
Commissioner Wesley Wright, who is a liaison to the MPC/DRC, said there will be no apartments and pricing for new housing, should the houses be built, would be in the upper 200s.
Chair Susan Mitchell said there is no recourse to block or deny a property owner whose development meets Lakeland code. She said if the regulations say it’s okay, then the property owner can go ahead with the project. She said the property owner has his rights.
Mayor Mike Cunningham, who is also an MPC/DRC member, said developers of The Collection have gone way over the basic regulations of the City to make a nice development. “We have to grow commercially,” he said, noting it is the best use for the property with the least impact to the neighbors.
Turning to the second item on the agenda, the ALDI grocery, Commissioner Wright asked Kelly Hiett, a civil engineer with CESO Inc. in Nashville, if more stone could be incorporated into the façade of the building. Mr. Martsolf said stone could be considered.
The property is owned by FCIC (Fayette County Investment Co., LLC) in Rossville, according to Mr. Brady. He said HSI Properties, LLC, owned by Doug Windham and his partners, is to purchase the property with approval of the PD application.
… Photos by Lakeland Currents
