I read with amusement the ‘news’ story that was published in the Northside Sun on Friday, August 11, about the Woodgate subdivision that is proposed to be built off Yandell Road in Madison County. An advertisement paid for by developers Carl Sandberg and Nick Gullette could not have presented this proposed neighborhood in a more positive light than this ‘news’ article did.
The reporter let Sandberg tell Sun readers “There has been a lot of false information among the community as to what this development entails,” then let him set the record straight by saying: “It’s simply not true.”
Well, I guess that settles that.
Now, here’s the rest of the story.
Madison County residents who live in the numerous subdivisions already built within the Yandell Road Corridor, are tired of watching one new development after another be approved and then built while very little has been done over the last 30 years to improve the condition of Yandell Road. Since 1990, at least 17 new subdivisions with about 2,500 homes, and one new grade school, have been built within this corridor. Meanwhile, Yandell Road remains a narrow, unsafe, winding, rolling, pothole-filled, poorly draining and poorly lighted two-lane road.
We are tired of supervisors who fail to plan for infrastructure improvements and see only dollar signs every time a developer brings them a new idea.
We are tired of waiting in long lines every morning on Yandell Road, trying to get to work or school on time. We are tired of not being able to see where we’re driving at night, wondering if the road will be passable when it rains, and guessing where the next pothole will develop – because there’s a new one to dodge every single week.
And with the Woodgate project, we are tired of being lied to.
Nothing about this development passes the smell test.
While Carl Sandberg and Nick Gullette might be the developers, the company set to build the homes is D.R. Horton – America’s Builder. This Dallas-based firm bills itself as the largest homebuilder in the country. It builds and then sells or rents 80,000 to 90,000 homes per year. This is a multi-billion-dollar company whose stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange. It has its own insurance company and own mortgage lenders. It specializes in building entire neighborhoods of 500 or 600 homes. It builds complete neighborhoods of rental or lease-to-own homes. It is also currently defending itself against multiple lawsuits alleging shoddy workmanship. According to a story published July 24, 2023, in The Advocate in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, court documents in one lawsuit against the company show D.R. Horton handled at least 1,100 complaints about mold.
No wonder Mr. Sandberg didn’t mention D.R. Horton when he was interviewed last week for the ‘news’ story that was published in the Sun.
The preliminary site plan for Phase 1 of the Woodgate subdivision was approved, unanimously, by the Madison County Board of Supervisors at their March 6 meeting. There was no discussion, no mention of the developers or builders, and several of the supervisors admitted months later they knew nothing about the proposed development at that time, other than it was presented to them for approval by Scott Weeks, Madison County’s Director of Planning and Zoning. Several supervisors are now for more discussion, but others say it was approved, so let’s move on. Trees are being cut.
Here's where things get murkier. According to the minutes of the March 6 Board of Supervisors meeting, what was presented and approved that day was a preliminary site plan showing 379 homes. The developer on the document was listed as MS Homes, LLC of Brandon, MS. Covenants were not presented, and minimum square footage was not discussed or presented on the preliminary site plan.
Two months later, at the May 15 Board of Supervisors meeting, Planning and Zoning Director Weeks presented another request to the supervisors to approve a preliminary site plan for Woodgate subdivision. Only this wasn’t the same plan that was presented to the board on March 6. This plan, presented by MS Developers, LLC of Brandon, MS, had a Phase 1 and Phase 2, with a total of nearly 600 homes and a square foot minimum of 1,420.
Thankfully, the supervisors, who by now had been contacted by angry residents asking why they had approved this neighborhood at all, tabled approval of the May request, pending a traffic study and further discussion about the square footage minimums.
Still, so much remains a mystery.
Why did the name of the developer change between March and May, from MS Homes, LLC to MS Developers, LLC? When the supervisors tabled the May request to approve the new preliminary site plan that shows Phases 1 and 2, did that supersede their approval in March? No covenants were presented for approval in March, so, technically, have any covenants or square footage minimums been approved? What happened to the traffic study the developers’ engineer told the Board in May would be completed in a few weeks?
And when do they plan to tell us that D.R. Horton will be building the homes?
A Facebook page titled Concerned Citizens of Madison County is circulating a petition that asks the supervisors to reconsider their approval of the Woodgate subdivision. If you live in Madison County and want to sign the petition, go to that page. More than 2,500 residents have signed it, but we need more. Also, if you are concerned about these subdivision shenanigans or the condition of Yandell Road, I encourage you to attend the next Board of Supervisors meeting (9 a.m., August 21, Madison County Office Complex, 125 West North Street, Canton) and let them know why you are there. There is strength in numbers.
And that’s the rest of the story that was left out of the ‘news’ article published by the Sun on August 11.
Lee West
