Hidden Hills rezoning request headed to Collegedale commissioners

On September 12, the Collegedale Municipal Planning Commission met to review requests concerning rezoning plans in the Collegedale area, specifically the 408.1 acres of land located on the west and east side of Edgmon Road, housing Hidden Hills Farm and Saddle Club. 

Addressed at the meeting was ZON2022-02 — a request to rezone parts of Edgmon Road from Agricultural (AG) to Low Density Single-Family (R-1-L) — and the companion case ZON2022-03 — a request to allow the application of a Planned Unit Development overlay, subject to conditions. 

At the meeting, of which a recording  can be found on the City of Collegedale YouTube channel, the floor was opened for residents in opposition of the development to come forward and speak. For the next 38 minutes, from timestamp 23:37 to 1:01, about 17 different citizens raised their questions and concerns about the development. 

Some residents brought up the potential negative effect on existing residents while others asked questions about how it would impact the landscape of the area. 

Ultimately, the motion to recommend that the Collegedale Board of Commissioners approve the rezoning with the updated conditions and its companion case was moved by the majority of the planning commission. 

“This will be a recommendation from us, and then it goes to the city council,” said Planning Commission member Todd Leamon. “Ultimately, the decision is through the legislative body [the Board of Commissioners], and they make [the] final decision.”

The next step for the proposed development will be a first reading at the Collegedale Board of Commissioners meeting on October 3, which will not be open to public comment. There will then be a second reading on October 17, which will determine the final decision regarding the Hidden Hills development. 

Case ZON2022-02 and ZON2022-03 were first brought to the Collegedale Planning Commission’s attention on July 11. Developers presented the two requests again a month later on Aug. 8, when the applicant, EAH Acquisitions, LLC, requested a 30-day referral to be heard on Sept. 12. 

At the Sept. 12 meeting, the applicant representative Mike Price, owner of Map Engineers, was called up to speak. Price presented changes that had been made in the development plans to address some of the concerns stated in the previous August planning commission meeting. 

According to Price, the developers will eliminate the planned townhomes and now strictly plan for single-family homes. The density of the proposed amount of houses has also decreased from 591 to 512 units, which would result in about 1.26 units per acre. 

Price also referred to a  traffic impact study, which analyzed the intersections of Lee Highway and the proposed roundabout intersection at the development site and Edgmon Road. 

The traffic assessment document can be found on the City of Collegedale website as an attached packet titled “Chastain Tract Updated Zoning Plan with Traffic Study” next to the Planning Commission agenda. 

According to the packet, the proposed single-family housing development is called “The Chastain Residential Development” and originally consisted of approximately 443 single-family detached units and 148 single-family attached units.

The recorded Planning Commission meeting can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6E0kS7dU3M or by searching up “City of Collegedale Planning Commission September 12,” and the attached traffic study document can be found at: https://www.collegedaletn.gov/government/agendas___minutes/planning_commission.php or the City of Collegedale website under the Planning Commission section.