Wal Triana & Capshaw closing a major PITA (Huntsville, Madison: construction, gym)

[friday13]

richard doris doty old railroad bed road killed - WHNT (http://www.whnt.com/news/whnt-madison-county-couple-killed-in-wreck,0,1067428.story?track=rss - broken link)

[ionlife]

I find it maddening to navigate the different infrastructures within my city. Madison City has pockets of county property in it. Those properties can be zoned as ANYTHING. We have an agricultural pocket under the Madison City Planning Commission's watch being considered for rezoning into COMMERCIAL B2 property and a 450 RESIDENTIAL units PROPERTY. Huh? Where are the roads to support any of that? And the B2 commercial rezoning can allow for:

*gas stations
*gas stations with convenience stores/fast food places attached (like we NEED another gas station a mile away from Pappa Jacks?)
*fast food place
*small strip mall of convenience stores

You get the picture. Highway/major artery businesses with no roads to support them. We bought AWAY from the highway to avoid this, but apparently the non-disclosure laws in this state hurt us again.

I know the property across the street from Gillespie/Balch corner is county property. They can sell, and it can be rezoned into ANYTHING: APARTMENTS, BIG LOT STORES, *shoulder shrug* stores

Seriously, the longer I live here, the angrier I become for those of us who bought into the sales package the NoAL delegations sold us up in VA.

[friday13]

Originally Posted by ionlife

Seriously, the longer I live here, the angrier I become for those of us who bought into the sales package the NoAL delegations sold us up in VA.

Did it sound too good to be true at the time?

[Charles]

Road closure in Madison frustrating drivers - WAFF.com: North Alabama News, Radar, Weather, Sports and Jobs-

[ionlife]

Originally Posted by friday13

Did it sound too good to be true at the time?

No. We had lived in the south before--and we loved it. But that was another state. We were eager to return to a more laid back lifestyle and way of life. We wanted our child to experience "normal" HS life. But we were comparing an apple to an orange between the states. And the Redstone Arsenal and NASA and MDA are all here now. We were willing to make the move (we're only one of 11% of families willing to come) because we believed we'd have a great life down here. And we knew we'd arrive debt free, with money for a home we loved, and the potential for a true southern lifestyle.

But this area is NOT what we expected. Not all aspects of it are bad. Many are good and we are positive people so we try to focus on the positive aspects of living here. However, the negatives keep crawling up from places we hadn't expected. And they are not pleasant and they are beginning to override our happiness about moving back south. Had we returned to the original state in the south we lived in, I know we'd be better off.

As I said, there are positives: great schools, wonderful people, lower cost of living as far as mortgage etc., proximity to great cities like Nashville, Atlanta and Birmingham. We're close to a lot of cool venues that we enjoy and avail ourselves of and we've been generally happy.

BUT this area has many drawbacks, and now this whole "progress" commercial industry thing is very upsetting. It's really been one thing after another for new home owners in our area and in the county. That's disturbing. And that's why we feel compelled to tell the powers that be what the pitfalls are in coming here. At least others will be more informed and might be able to make better decisions.

The thing is, we had very little to choose from once we settled on the school district. This impacted our ability to buy a new home or slightly used home in an area that would NOT have these problems. Some of these areas are in Madison. But to be told by a few "I told you so" in making a decision at the time that we felt benefited our family, especially our child's transition, best, is very insulting and upsetting to us. And I'm sure it's upsetting to the many who bought in our specific subdivision.

It's unfortunate that the representation of this community and how it was sold was not done in a totally above board way. We weren't part of the beginning of the lack of truth here in this neighborhood, and we didn't buy directly from the rep of the neighborhood, so we did know more than most Thank God. But we keep finding more and more issues that affect our neighborhood directly.

We've made our bed, we'll lie in it, but we'll fight for what we believe is fair for our neighborhood as a whole. I have nothing against progress if it is done tastefully and in a way that benefits not just the city of Madison's coffers, but our home values as well. If we were assured we were getting a tasteful place of business, not a potential gas station with the requisite traffic and crime problems associated with the increase in flow; we'd be all for commercial development in the area.

If the city can assure us, those of us who live close to this potential B2 zoned district, that they won't abuse our trust the way it was abused in the past, we're all for progress.

Sticking our noses in the dung and making us feel like fools for making the best decisions we could at the time with the information we had at hand doesn't lend itself to having a cooperative spirit at all.

That's the rub. Thumbing a wink at us and telling us "we tried to warn you" doesn't work at making us amenable to any changes at all. At what point do we say enough is enough?

My only consolation is the neighborhood realty rep lives here so he'll be impacted. At least we're not at the front of the subdivision. That's small consolation, but it is consolation. And, having lived in a high density, poorly planned county before coming here, I know how to sugarcoat the house location when it's time to sell. And for once, at that time, the non-disclosure laws would work to our benefit.

Only I am an ethical person, so I won't lie if asked about the truth and I won't hide it.

[E Limestone Dude]

Well the news story didn't help much. I guess it means the road will reopen in 30 days???

"The stress on roads is what engineers describe as pains of a growing city and this road closure problem for drivers along Wall-Triana won't be solved for the next 30 days."

[uahacct]

I don't understand what you expected someone to do for you. A property owner can ask to have his or her property rezoned at any time. No one can predict or disclose what may or may not happen. Would it have helped if someone had shown you a zoning map prior to your purchase?

Originally Posted by ionlife

I find it maddening to navigate the different infrastructures within my city. Madison City has pockets of county property in it. Those properties can be zoned as ANYTHING. We have an agricultural pocket under the Madison City Planning Commission's watch being considered for rezoning into COMMERCIAL B2 property and a 450 RESIDENTIAL units PROPERTY. Huh? Where are the roads to support any of that? And the B2 commercial rezoning can allow for:

*gas stations
*gas stations with convenience stores/fast food places attached (like we NEED another gas station a mile away from Pappa Jacks?)
*fast food place
*small strip mall of convenience stores

You get the picture. Highway/major artery businesses with no roads to support them. We bought AWAY from the highway to avoid this, but apparently the non-disclosure laws in this state hurt us again.

I know the property across the street from Gillespie/Balch corner is county property. They can sell, and it can be rezoned into ANYTHING: APARTMENTS, BIG LOT STORES, *shoulder shrug* stores

Seriously, the longer I live here, the angrier I become for those of us who bought into the sales package the NoAL delegations sold us up in VA.

[ionlife]

No that wouldn't have helped as that map stated the property adjacent to our subdivision would be rezoned eventually as ONLY residential. Now the city wants to rezone it to a combination B2 commercial/residential (higher density than originally shown on the map).

You're right. I didn't expect anyone to do anything for me then because I thought things would be as stated at the time. NOW I expect my city to NOT to rezone to commercial. If that doesn't happen, then I expect the city to STOP certain kinds of B2 commercial enterprises from being built on that corner so my home values won't be lowered.

I've been told that because my home is not located near the front of the subdivision that I shouldn't be upset. But I live in a community and this impacts my friends and neighbors in my subdivision so I am not happy for our community at large. And I do believe it impacts my quality of life in the terms of congestion, pollution, noise, potential upsurge of crime (dependent upon type of business), too many lights.

I hope that the P&Z meeting addresses those concerns in a way that either shows they will back off (doubtful) rezoning to commercial or they will prove that the changes will IMPROVE my quality of life here.

I've determined that nothing we say or do, unless it is mass numbers, will stop them as the city needs $$$ and more residential rooftops won't provide the city with the same $$$$ as a lucrative commercial enterprise such as a gas station or McDonalds would. Be nice if they put in sidewalks and allowed for a real pedestrian lifestyle to support the idea of a commercial enterprise there. Imagine, no way to walk there despite being next door.

Of course, that would be silly wouldn't it? Why would anyone walk to a gas station?

[Charles]

This may help visualize the situation; Google Maps has what looks like the plats superimposed on the "Map" view.
Balch and Gillespie, madison, al - Google Maps

[ionlife]

Thanks Charles. Great posting. I simply don't understand WHY that area NEEDS business zoning. There are a lot of empty buildings along Hughs road as well as on the county line road at the Publix Shopping Center. There are failed businesses there. The ONLY reason the city might want to rezone that is to get a major revenue builder like a gas station. I can't see why they don't just fill the empty buildings and failed businesses that already exist rather than build yet another enterprise.

And I'm baffled as to where the $$$ would come from to build a commercial enterprise on that corner. Unless, of course, they already KNOW of someone wanting to build something there (I can only imagine--just looking at small town HS politics, I can see it happening).

Well, I hope to get to the meeting, but if not, at least more people are aware via this forum and emails that have been sent out to various individuals in our and other neighborhoods near this corner.

Hopefully whatever happens will be positive for us.