“He does not want to have to fight his way through Renaissance and up all his land to Madison, building by building,” ZONE member Janet Clark said. “He doesn’t want that much oversight. We are very much opposed to an overlay district because that means (residents) are cut out.”
Colony Park extends south from Old Agency Road north to the Madison city limits. An overlay district already has been created at The Township, a planned mixed-use community along Highland Colony Parkway at Steed Road.
“If such a district is approved (at Renaissance), no public hearings would be required no matter what is built on the property as long as buildings are within the guidelines of the overlay district,” Clark said. “Last year, Mr. Bailey tried to accomplish this same thing by attempting to rezone the Renaissance property as C-6 so that he would not be required to participate in further public hearings. Public outcry was so great that he withdrew the C-6 request.”
GENERALLY, OVERLAY districts add to provisions of underlying zoning and apply to specific corridors and ensure needs of such areas are met. Ridgeland’s other overlay district is at Old Towne, on West Jackson Street.
Bailey, the president of H.C. Bailey Companies, has not formally asked the city’s Board of Aldermen to consider passing an overlay district ordinance, Mayor Gene McGee said.
“At the public hearing for the 200 Renaissance building, Mr. Bailey promised the citizens and elected officials that he would develop a master plan for the rest of the Colony Park area,” he said in response to ZONE’s opposition to the possible creation of an overlay district at Renaissance. “The details of the overlay district will be developed after the master plan has been finalized. We feel certain that he will involve citizens as he continues with the process, but it is still early in the process since he has not completed a draft of the master plan.”
But ZONE doesn’t have much confidence in city officials, Clark said, and the group is asking its supporters to get ready for another legal battle.
“The request for an overlay district is of tremendous importance to every homeowner in Ridgeland,” ZONE attorney Lawson Hester said. “If we let this type of overlay district be put into effect for this developer, we are giving away any realistic ability to control what is built in this area. If you care about your home, its value and the quality of your residential lives, when a hearing is scheduled on this question, plan to attend. It’s that simple.”
A Bailey spokesman could not be reached.
The fate of the 200 Renaissance building expected to house Regions Bank, Horne CPA Group and Butler, Snow, O’Mara, Stevens and Cannada Law Firm rests with Madison County Circuit Court after ZONE appealed Ridgeland officials’ approval of the site plan.
Last December, McGee cast the tie-breaking, 4-3 vote to approve a variance request to build the $60-$70 million tower. Bailey altered his original plan to build 17 stories as a compromise with those opposing it. City officials in October authorized an exception to allow the 13-story building in an area zoned for buildings no taller than four stories, and complainants have argued Ridgeland officials may be setting precedence for allowing zoning variances.
“We need to be deciding what protections we need and must have,” Clark said. “We are not being protected by current zoning ordinances under this city administration, so it seems unwise to agree for our neighborhoods to be further marginalized in discussions of land use in our area. We must not give up our right to comment and protest events when unsuitable development is proposed.
“This push for more and more buildings higher than the current four-story limit seems particularly ill-advised at this time when Ridgeland has many empty office and retail buildings.”
If aldermen approve Bailey’s request for an overlay district at Renaissance, that, too, will be appealed in circuit court, Clark said.
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