Community Involvement Leads to Compromise on Turner Church Road

A new senior subdivision on Turner Church Road gained approval this week after nearly a yearlong discussion. An active group of neighbors made a key difference in negotiating conditions for it.

David Weekley Homes plans to construct an age-restricted subdivision on 152 acres. The final plan has 318 single-family detached lots. Residents will be restricted to those ages 55 and older.

Turner Church Road Senior Subdivision

Consideration to develop the Wade Farm property dates back years. For example, an Arizona developer proposed 400 lots on the property in 2019. They later withdrew their request. More recently, the city council approved annexing the land in November 2021. They made no change to the zoning at the time.

In spring 2023, David Weekley Homes submitted a rezoning request for the property. They first proposed a conventional subdivision with 281 lots. The city postponed their request so the builder could meet with community members. The applicant brought forth a new proposal in August for an age-restricted subdivision.

The August proposal included a mixture of single-family detached houses and ”villas,” or duplexes. Upon further dialogue between the builder and neighbors, the final site plan removed all villas. Instead, only single-family homes will be in the subdivision.

The homes will be on a mix of 55’ wide and 65’ wide lots. Zoning conditions allow up to 20% of the homes to be a minimum of 1,300 square feet. The remaining 80% must be at least 1,600 sq ft. Each home shall have a two-car garage as well.

The community amenities are designed with seniors in mind. An on-site staff member will coordinate community activities. Amenities include the following:

• pool and clubhouse,
• six pickleball courts,
• walking trails,
• children’s playground,
• pavilion, and
• fire pit.

In addition, there is extensive green space throughout the project. About half of the site is being preserved as green space. This includes about 35 “buildable” acres the builder could otherwise utilize.

Finally, the community will feature gated access. This means the streets will be privately-maintained. The builder will also install crossbuck fencing along Turner Church Road.

Community Involvement

Neighbors from the adjacent subdivisions have remained vigilant all-year in following the proposed development. They formed a coalition who met with the builder several times. During these meetings, they successfully negotiated several conditions. Some of which included the removal of duplexes from the plan, and a lower percentage of 1,300 sq ft homes. They also negotiated a 5% cap on rental units. Finally, there will be a six-foot privacy fence between the new subdivision and the adjacent Emerald Plantation subdivision. A 100’ buffer between the two subdivisions is also included.

Mayor Vincent commended the community for their involvement in the process. She remarked such process was out of the ordinary, but in her belief, its how government should work. Councilman Reeves, in whose district the property is located, also commended the neighbors’ input.

Featured image shows the Turner Church Road senior subdivision concept site plan. Moore Bass Consulting photo.