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TEACHEY — The town of Teachey is moving forward with plans for a new subdivision that will add 203 homes to the town limits.
Mill Creek Meadows, as the subdivision will be named, is a 100-acre tract on US Highway 117. The front portion of the planned development was in the town limits, while the back 45-50 acres needed to be annexed into the town. The entire subdivision also needed to be rezoned to R-10, residential.
“Mill Creek Meadows is proposing 203 homes, so with 203 homes, that’s going to be a major addition to the town of Teachey,” said Mayor Bobby Jones. “If you do the math, if there’s 2.5 people per home on average, then it would be an addition of 518 people to the town city limits. If there’s three people in the home, it would be 609 people, which would be a 130% growth in population.”
During the public hearing on the rezoning and annexation, Friendly Acres resident Candace Knowles expressed concerns about drainage and how it might affect her neighborhood. “We already have water approaching on our back lots,” Knowles stated. “Our concern is, are the developers going to drain it properly? Is either the town or the county going to dredge the ditches? If you get 200-something homes, all that drainage has to go somewhere.”
Ben Jones attended the meeting on behalf of the developer, River Landing Builders. He said that a beaver trapper has been through the area to try to identify and destroy dams that may cause some drainage issues. However, the design process has not started yet, he said, because the builders wanted to get the annexation and rezoning approval before starting that.
“We haven’t designed the lots and we haven’t designed the drainage system yet,” Jones said. “So I’m not even sure how the water’s going to run or where we’re going to dump the water.”
He added that he would definitely take Knowles’ concerns into account. “We’re not trying to build homes and flood everybody out. We’re trying to figure it out ourselves. We do not want to create problems, we want to create solutions.”
The mayor pointed out that it’s important for the town and River Landing Builders to build a relationship now so that any issues that arise can be addressed quickly. “Any issues that arise are going to be on us, the town of Teachey,” Mayor Jones said. “We want to make sure we’re not putting anybody in jeopardy of having any natural disaster cause them any issues or any problems with their homes. We’re excited for the growth, but want to make sure we’re doing it the right way as well.”
Later in the meeting, the commissioners unanimously approved the annexation request, as well as the rezoning.
A public hearing on another rezoning request, this one for a parcel on Page Street, was set for next month’s meeting. The mayor recused himself from the discussion, since he owns property on Page Street.
In other business, the board also discussed the purchase of a utility trailer and safety lights for the Public Works Department. Zoning and Public Works Director James Parker said he had shopped around for a utility trailer, with the best price so far at $2,499. He also had a price of $3,875 for the lights. Because neither item is budgeted, the board will have to discuss and approve budget amendments at a future meeting to make the purchase.
The town is also receiving a new Christmas tree in the coming weeks, and the board discussed possibly moving the tree lighting ceremony up to November, rather than having it at the December town board meeting. Commissioner Ronnie Pope also said that the town could give the old tree to the fire department for them to post out front during the holiday season. The discussion will continue at the next meeting.
The Teachey town board meets the second Monday of each month at 6 p.m. at Town Hall.
