April 9, 2024
By: Dwayne Page
To better ensure that adequate road access for emergency vehicles and sufficient water supply for fire suppression are provided in new county residential developments with five or more lots prior to final plat approval, the DeKalb County Regional Planning Commission has amended the county’s subdivision regulations with new provisions for developers.
The action was taken during Monday night’s regular monthly meeting of the planning commission and will apply immediately to any new developments going forward. According to Tommy Lee, Deputy Director of the Upper Cumberland Development District, who serves as UCDD staff planner and advisor to DeKalb County, these new regulations will not apply to any development over the last five years that has already received at least preliminary plat approval by the planning commission.
“This will be effective immediately and it will apply to any development going forward,” said Lee. “The state of Tennessee does have a state law that has vesting rights for previously approved preliminary subdivision plats and that’s five years so anything submitted five years previously from tonight that has not yet received final approval will not be subject to this amendment,” said Lee.
The new regulations were primarily prompted as the result of a plat already approved for a subdivision called Silver Point Shores on Aunt Helen Road in DeKalb County near Silver Point which has been in development for at least two years. Concerns are that this subdivision has poor (narrow) road access into and through it especially for emergency vehicles such as fire trucks and ambulances and that there is no water source (wells) or fire suppression system in place for the 31 lots in the subdivision which have already been sold by the developer collectively for more than $3.5 million. Members of the planning commission also have concerns about whether the surety instrument of the developer in this case, a cashier’s check (good for up to 180 days but reportedly now expired) in the amount of $40,000 was sufficient.
The amendment to the county subdivision regulations approved by the planning commission Monday night seeks to help solve potential problems in any residential development going forward prior to final subdivision plat approval.
The new regulations state as follows:
“The following conditions shall apply to developments containing five (5) lots or more:
1.All lots must be served by a public water source.
2. All lots must be located within 1,000 feet of a fire hydrant installed on at least a 6″ water line, or a credited alternate water supply site (per ISO standards)
3.All roads public, private, or county owned must provide access to the proposed development from the nearest state route with a surface of at least double surface (chip and shoot) paving. These access roads shall have a surface width of at least nineteen (19) feet, and none shall have a grade of more than ten (10) percent. Any access road that does not meet these requirements shall be brought up to these standards at the cost of the developer. Plat shall not be approved until these standards have been achieved and the DeKalb County Road Supervisor has inspected and approved access roads and the roads of the development.
4. The DeKalb County Fire Chief shall give a recommendation for each plat by signatory line on the final plat, before Planning Commission approval, acknowledging proper access for emergency vehicles and adequate water supply is available for fire suppression for each new development.
5. A common mailbox area must be approved by the United States Postal services for all proposed roads within the development”.
County Fire Chief Donny Green first addressed both the planning commission and the county commission last fall with concerns.
According to Chief Green, DeKalb County has grown in recent years with new residential developments, especially around the lake but with it has come rising worries about adequate infrastructure access to these subdivisions.
Among the issues is fire truck and ambulance access to developments in the event of a fire or some other emergency because of many narrow and steep county roads leading to them. Water line infrastructure is also an issue in some places causing concerns about sufficient water pressure to fight a fire.
Chief Green said his intention in raising this matter was not to point fingers at anyone, any developer, or any public official but to merely bring awareness to what appears to be a growing public service and public safety concern and to find ways to mitigate it going forward working with the planning commission and county commission.
“I would like to see the Planning Commission, the Health, Education, and Public Safety Committee, and the University of Tennessee’s County Technical Advisory Service (CTAS) collaborate to work towards a plan to address the critical infrastructure needs that must take place prior to continued development of such areas,” said Chief Green during last October’s County Commission meeting.
County Mayor Matt Adcock commended the planning commission for this action taken Monday night but urged them to strengthen the surety instrument requirements for new developers.
“I would like to commend this planning commission. Tonight, we have made a big step in the right direction in trying to hold the developer more accountable for what he is doing in the community and that is what this planning commission is for. We’re not here for the developer. We are here for the community and the people buying those lots to make sure they have sufficient roads, water, and fire suppression and that’s our goal,” said County Mayor Adcock.
“We have three different surety instruments that we can accept with this planning commission,” said Lee. “We have letter of credit, cashier’s check, and joint escrow account. We have done a joint escrow account (prior with a developer), and it worked really well. Typically, cashier’s checks that we have had didn’t have expiration dates on them and we have also done letters of credit which is basically the bank guaranteeing that funds are there for someone who is going to put up a surety. I agree with County Mayor Adcock that we need to re-look at the types of sureties that we take and especially to make sure we have plain language that surety instruments cannot have an expiration date,” said Lee.
The planning commission will re-evaluate the surety instrument requirements of a developer and possibly adopt new subdivision regulations accordingly following a public hearing to be held in June.
Members of the Planning Commission: Rick Cantrell (citizen member), Danny Pirtle (citizen member), Harold Bain (citizen member), Alan Webb (citizen member), Jack Barton (citizen member), Beth Pafford (County Commissioner), Greg Matthews (County Commissioner), Andy Pack (County Commissioner), and Jeff Barnes (County Commissioner). Pafford and Cantrell were absent at Monday night’s meeting.