Publix on County Line/Shopping Center & Other Commercial Development (Madison: HOA, townhouse) - Huntsville-Madison-Decatur area - Alabama (AL) - Page 9 - City-Data Forum

Mawoods · 12-27-2009, 05:16 PM

I do think that real good landscaping can be added and actually be a positive. We were just down in south Florida and there you have neighborhoods and shopping on the same stretch but with very heavy landscaping. I enjoyed being able to bike out of our daughter's neighborhood unto a main drag and bike into a shopping area. All with gorgeous plants, trees. EVEN THE WALMART looked like an upscale shopping center because of the landscaping put around it. Believe me, if a builder/developer wants to do it he will and the city can make him do it. I think all of them want to be in Madison and would be willing to do it. But it is isn't required, they won't.

ionlife · 12-28-2009, 06:16 AM

Mawoods, really nice landscaping and bike trails would be a fabulous addition and certainly sweeten the bitter taste in our mouths over this pile of excrement we're being force fed. But if the engineering division puts in a traffic circle on that corner (as planned--ooohhhh the dollar signs in their eyes), then I think crossing that corner on a bike would be a serious hazard to one's health.

I wish I knew what the city's master plan was for us. I don't see one. It's hard to agree to something that looks like cr** when no one is showing us where it truly can be made to smell half way decent (tho' how we make cr** smell nice is a mystery to me).

Mawoods · 12-28-2009, 07:48 AM

Hi Ion, the paths that everyone bikes down there in that particularly area are really just wide sidewalks - not on the road at all. I would be afraid to get on the road to be honest. And you do have to stop at a light and cross with your bike or walking to get to the other side. What makes it really nice is the heavy landscaping around everything - even gas stations on the corner. Also, when we lived near Peachtree City Ga. there was the same concept - wide paths for biking, walking and golf carts along the roads but set back. And there was definitely lots of landscaping to hide the commercial districts on the corners or the main thoroughfare. WHAT we need is the city council to be FORWARD thinking. May be too much to ask.

Charles · 12-28-2009, 07:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mawoods

Hi Ion, the paths that everyone bikes down there in that particularly area are really just wide sidewalks - not on the road at all. I would be afraid to get on the road to be honest. And you do have to stop at a light and cross with your bike or walking to get to the other side. What makes it really nice is the heavy landscaping around everything - even gas stations on the corner. Also, when we lived near Peachtree City Ga. there was the same concept - wide paths for biking, walking and golf carts along the roads but set back. And there was definitely lots of landscaping to hide the commercial districts on the corners or the main thoroughfare. WHAT we need is the city council to be FORWARD thinking. May be too much to ask.

Didn't Hughes Road widening get voted down even though it is a major road for schools, churches, retail, and subdivisions? If widening a key road is voted down, what do you think will happen when people are asked to open their wallets for frivolous and trivial amenities such as landscaping, bikeways, and hardscaping?

Mawoods · 12-28-2009, 08:01 AM

Don't know the history but again I don't see any forward thinking about the future and what the road will be like. And usually the developer/builder puts in the landscaping. In the scheme of things, landscaping costs very little. The percentage that is spent for plants, trees and as a gardener I know you can get deals and reasonable costs for those plants. There just needs to be a precedent set that if you are going to build and develop in an area, that certain standards of landscaping have to apply. It is done all over the country and can be done here. The expectations are not there and therefore the developers/builders don't even think that way. After a few years, all that shrubbery is lush and gives the area a much more invitable look and can add value to the city, property, etc. Actually, along Hughes there is a wide walking path on part of it. Now picture that with landscaping put in along it by each business, etc. Could be beautiful and needs to be extended. Even without widening Hughes I believe it can be done and make that road a really beautiful area with some continuity. Would make Madison City a leader in planning and green living?

ionlife · 12-29-2009, 07:38 AM

Mawoods/Charles: I found out that the developer of the subdivision across the street from Publix had a deal with the city to add trees down the line where Gillespie cut through. He's now the road engineer and in the planning and zoning technical review board (things that make me go hmmmm all over again). Our developer made no such deal. I also found out that they plan to widen Balch Road to five lanes (guess we don't get a say in that like the people off of Hughs Road) from Gillespie up to 72. I don't know how that will impact our entrance to our subdivision, but I did learn that most of the entrances to the subdivisions in Madison are not owned by the subs, but by the city. So technically, I guess they can just mow down our fences and so forth to accomplish their deeds. *sigh* that's one thing no one told me nor did I think to research to that degree. I think the number of things to "research and do homework on" is so high that it would be impossible to keep up with the plethora of info necessary to making a decent decision. Time and again I have heard people in my sub and other new subs say they bought the school district. But now I am wondering if the nuclear fall out is worth the price we paid for the schools. I don't know. Time will tell. Yes, my child will get a great education and the city has many pros, but the cons are starting shift the scale down with their heavy weights.

I'd love to see if the council and the Mayor of Madison actually have a master plan that would benefit all the citizens of Madison City. I have yet to see one. I know that there are some big bucks in the area and that might be what is hurting those of us who moved in from out of state. I don't know anymore. I stand by old and tired line: love my house, love my neighbors, love the schools, love my location. Don't love the small town politics, the lack of disclosure (which grows in scope almost daily), the feeling of egg on my face, and the judgment of those who think they did so much better and when one complains being told "sad too bad."

It's like they want our money and our presence as a way of competing with each other (the cities here and the county), but when we balk at the price we are being asked to pay we're told "to quit whining, move back to where you came from, and that's just the way it is so sad too bad."

My one consolation is my child's happiness in the schools, the friends, and the lower level of academic stress.

Charles · 12-29-2009, 08:16 AM

Madison City Council sets hearings on property tax, two controversial rezonings | Breaking News from The Huntsville Times - al.com

skinem · 12-29-2009, 09:57 AM

Ionlife, have you asked for a copy of a master plan? Have you talked to the city planner, Bob Atallo? (He is still city planner, isn't he?)

HB2HSV · 12-29-2009, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ionlife

<snip>
I also found out that they plan to widen Balch Road to five lanes (guess we don't get a say in that like the people off of Hughs Road) from Gillespie up to 72. I don't know how that will impact our entrance to our subdivision, but I did learn that most of the entrances to the subdivisions in Madison are not owned by the subs, but by the city. So technically, I guess they can just mow down our fences and so forth to accomplish their deeds. *sigh*
<snip>
Time and again I have heard people in my sub and other new subs say they bought the school district. But now I am wondering if the nuclear fall out is worth the price we paid for the schools. I don't know. Time will tell. Yes, my child will get a great education and the city has many pros, but the cons are starting shift the scale down with their heavy weights.
<snip>
My one consolation is my child's happiness in the schools, the friends, and the lower level of academic stress.

Please elaborate. Isn't it a good thing to widen Balch road to 5 lanes?

Don't know if you need to drive on Balch road now during the commuting hours, but I can't imagine several hundred households trying to exit/enter Balch road in that tiny 2 lane country road at the same time.

I would think it will provide a better quality of life to the neighborhood.

Mawoods · 12-29-2009, 02:24 PM

If they plan on widening it and making it a beautiful road with landscaping I think it would be a plus. We saw too many 2 lane winding country roads that became overcrowded in Atlanta because of all the developements off of them. All those cars were then trying to feed into interstates. It would have been nice to have all of that planned before they put in all those subdivisions. Hopefully, Mad city is thinking ahead and can make it nice and pedestrian friendly at the same time.