Review of March 6, 2018 Planning and Zoning Commission

The P&Z Commission took up a number of issues, but only two really stood out as noteworthy. The first was the McCutcheon Farms Proposal and the second was a house to restaurant conversion.

The company behind the McCutcheon Farms Proposal, Realty Capital, made a fairly slick presentation, but the proposal was rejected by the commission unanimously. The proposal has a number of defects, as identified in our review of their proposal before the meeting, but the overriding defect, much to much density, was the overriding factor to led to its rejection. The troubling takeaway point from the meeting is that I am fairly convinced the developer does not get it. During his opportunity to respond the hour long open meeting and the commissioners’ questions, the developer addressed a number of issues but not density. For a proposal that is probably twice as dense as it should be, that is not a good sign, and shows the developer’s lack of good faith in dealing with the city.

The Commision approved the conversion of a house into a restaurant. The house is located on Hubbard just south of the current strip mall housing Arboledas and Heath Salon & Spa. This is a good development that I think helps to preserve a more open and less developed feel to a town rather than tearing these structures down and replacing them with newly built commercial structures. Preserving houses as light commercial structures also helps to transition from purely residential areas to more intensive commercial areas such as what will eventually occur along FM 740. I think this will be the best use of the housing from the High School and South along 740 as that area becomes the commercial hub of Heath.