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Bryan | BryanCountyNow
ALLISON BENNETT DYCHE | Thursday, July 12, 2007

The Richmond Hill City Council approved a rezoning request for the proposed Richmond Reserve project during their July 3 meeting.

The request from Lamar Smith, acting as an agent for Lucy Little and Maria Sparkman, rezoned 1,133.5 acres off Daniel Siding Road in Richmond Hill from agricultural to planned development.

The proposed development, called Richmond Reserve, is planned to include 1,940 total residential units, including a 50,000-square-foot town center which will house commercial, office and retail businesses. Proposed housing will include single-family, townhomes and multi-family. Other proposed features of the development will be neighborhood parks, four miles of multi-purpose trails and recreational lakes.

Prior to discussion about the project, Mayor Richard R. Davis told the large audience that a public hearing had already been held on the matter June 29, and he did not intend to make the council meeting into another public hearing. He said Lamar Smith would give a presentation on the project, and a spokesman representing the citizens against the rezoning would be asked to speak.

Planning and Zoning director Steve Scholar pointed out that the decision that lay before the council was simply a rezoning request. Scholar said a master plan will have to come back before council, and would provide a good opportunity to address things like traffic and noise.

Smith said the project began with a series of meetings with both the city and the county. When the project was first looked at, it was on county land, but the county could not service the project with water and sewer, Smith said. He then requested that the land be annexed into the city after he found out the city could provide water and sewer for the project. The annexation was approved and was effective as of July 1, 2007. "For all intents and purposes, the project remains the same," Smith said, explaining that the intent of the project did not change with the annexation. "It is smart growth."

Smith said he was at the meeting prior to submitting a master plan and prior to getting into discussions about traffic and other issues, just so the city and citizens know the project is being considered. "We know there's an issue with Daniel Siding Road," Smith said. "We know it needs to be widened."

Smith will pay for the road to be improved, including widening. The road improvements are planned to be done simultaneously with the beginning of the Richmond Reserve project.

State Rep. Al Williams, a chairman deacon at Calvary Baptist Church on Daniel Siding Loop Road, served as the spokesman for citizens against the project. Williams said that while he realizes Smith did his homework in letting people know about the proposed project, he also should have visited Calvary Baptist Church and Daniel Baptist Church to speak one-on-one with citizens about the project.

"You can be approved, but if you're interested in a cohesive community and the goodwill factor, there's just some things you should step up and do," Williams said. "There's got to be some concern for the citizenry that have called this home for years. I would hope that the developer would see fit to sit down with the community in a community setting to hear the concerns of the citizens. These questions cry out for an answer."

Smith said that before the master plan is finalized, he plans to hold a meeting with the residents of Daniel Siding Road to discuss drainage, the impact on the community, traffic and what the community will look like at build-out.

Councilmember Billy Albritton moved to approve the request, councilmember JoAnn Bickley seconded the motion, and the rezoning request was unanimously approved.