Despite opposition from residents concerned about traffic congestion, the Madison County board of supervisors voted to approve measures to allow two developments to move forward in Gluckstadt.
One allowed for the rezoning of a property off Catlett Road from R1 to R2, and the other was a height variance for a hotel to be built on the west side of I-55 near Gluckstadt Road.
As explosive growth continues in the Gluckstadt area, traffic remains a major concern for residents despite the county’s efforts to address the issue.
Stribling Road has an average daily traffic count of 8,200 vehicles, according to the Mississippi Department of Transportation Web site. Catlett Road has an average daily vehicle count of 7,300.
According to a recent traffic study on Gluckstadt Road, peak traffic counts during the morning and afternoon school carpool hours range from approximately 1,500 to 1,650.
Two public hearings were conducted at the August 17 meeting of the board of supervisors to hear both sides of the rezoning and height variance issues.
Developers are proposing 43 lots on a 17.58 acre property on Catlett Road, which is currently owned by Kenneth Gibson Lewis and David Keith Lewis and is zoned R1 for a single family residential estate district.
For the supervisors to rezone a property, the burden falls on the developer to prove both a public need and a change of character in the neighborhood.
The developers for this particular property argued that the property is surrounded by properties zoned R2, which is medium density residential, and that by rezoning they would be conforming to the surrounding area that is already in place. The developer did not specify the number of homes or their sizes.
A concerned resident, Mimi Speyerer, contended that the additional development on Catlett Road would only exacerbate an already poor traffic situation.
However, District Two Supervisor Trey Baxter said the county is doing all that they can to address these concerns by widening Gluckstadt and Bozeman roads and building the Reunion Interchange.
“We’re doing the best we can to deal with traffic concerns,” he said.
“Every person who moves into Madison County does not have to live off of Catlett Road or Bozeman Road or Stribling Road or Gluckstadt Road,” Speyerer said.
Speyerer submitted photos of backed up traffic during peak hours during the pandemic, which she said is not even as bad as it is during normal circumstances.
“It is horrendous when school is in session,” she said. Speyerer also said the developers should have spoken up previously when the property was originally zoned R1 if there were concerns about the zoning.
Zoning Administrator Scott Weeks said the R1 zoning was a result of a change in state law regarding agricultural practices, and they went with R1 zoning to protect neighborhoods from “certain things” as a result of the law.
“We want the least intrusive route,” Weeks said.
The board voted 4-1 to approve the zoning change.
BDP Group, LLC, appealed the Madison County Planning and Zoning Commission’s decision to deny a height variance for a proposed Gluckstadt hotel. The board of supervisors voted 3-2 to approve the variance, with District One Supervisor Sheila Jones and Baxter voting to deny it.
The hotel, Candlewood Suites by IHG, is to be located on lot 12 of the Gluckstadt Commercial Center on the west side of I-55 near Gluckstadt Road.
The variance will allow the hotel to surpass the zoning ordinance’s requirement that a structure not exceed 40 feet in height. A parapet on the facade of the hotel will reach 63.5 feet.
The hotel is set to be four stories high with 81 rooms and 87 parking spaces on a 1.2 acre property.
The hotel is designed for extended stay, and the developers say it will benefit the county with the Nissan plant nearby and Amazon coming.
Planning and Zoning Commission chairman Walter McKay spoke as a concerned resident in opposition to the height variance.
McKay said the hotel would not only exacerbate the traffic problem in that area, but, in his opinion, there is no current need for a four-story hotel in Gluckstadt. He also said that he thinks the board’s decision to allow it will set a precedent for taller structures in Gluckstadt.
“I’m in favor of growth, and I think what they’re doing is going to be first class, but we do have ordinances we have to abide by,” Baxter said of why he voted to deny the height variance.
District Three Supervisor Gerald Steen, District Four Supervisor Karl Banks and District Five Supervisor Paul Griffin voted to approve.
