A 171-home expansion of the Twin Eagles subdivision has been approved by the Gallatin City Council with a controversial connection to Douglas Lane despite opposition from many area residents.
Officials voted 4-2 on final reading in favor of a preliminary master development plan and annexation request for the 59-acre expansion during the council’s first in-person meeting in more than a year on Tuesday.
As part of their decision, members of the council also specified that the entrance onto Douglas Lane would not be required until at least 88 homes in the expansion were completed.
“I have to protect the people that live in Twin Eagles… and we have to have another entrance to get in and out of this place.” District 3 Councilman Jimmy Overton, who proposed the amendment, told those in attendance during the meeting who were socially distanced in the council chambers and throughout city hall. “The folks on Douglas Lane are not happy, but this will give us another five to eight years to hopefully find a solution if there is another way to get in and out of this subdivision and we’ll be able to do it at that time.”
Prior to the vote, officials heard public comments from 31 residents about the project. Of those who spoke, 22 expressed opposition to the development citing concerns they had with how narrow and curvy the road was as well as flooding that occurs in the area.
Several individuals who spoke also referenced wrecks and near misses with other vehicles they’ve experienced in the past.
“That road is dangerous,” Douglas Lane resident Victoria Hagen said Tuesday. “I really feel like this is an accident waiting to happen and somebody is going to die.”
In March, a petition with nearly 100 signatures was also submitted to the city requesting the developer be required to purchase enough property to add 2-foot-wide shoulders on both sides of Douglas Lane between the new entrance of the subdivision to Highway 25.
In addition to other road improvements, the petition also requested a final vote on the project be postponed until officials could hear from residents in person.
“I’ve voiced my concern about this from day one and I’m still against this,” said District 4 Councilman Craig Hayes, who voted against the project Tuesday along with District 1 Councilwoman Lynda Bradley Love. “The thing about this is that we’re putting this entrance onto a very, very small road which is very narrow and very dangerous for that many people to go out onto that road.
“We should have looked at this a long time ago and done something about that (second entrance) and we didn’t. Now we want to go in and put this there. I wish we could find another road somewhere else to exit off to this subdivision.”
In January, members of the city’s planning commission expressed similar safety concerns about the narrow roadway when they voted not to recommend approval of the proposed expansion.
However, City Engineer Nick Tuttle told officials the following month that despite the concerns, the subdivision needs a second entrance, and that Douglas Lane is “really the only option.”
“We are way out of whack here with allowing over 500 units (overall) with only one way in and one way out,” Tuttle said in February.
As for any improvements to Douglas Lane, Sumner County Road Superintendent Judy Hardin wrote in an email earlier this year that there were no plans to require the widening of the road and that it was “sufficient” based on the traffic study she reviewed.
Construction of Twin Eagles Phase 15 is expected to start later this year and will likely take more than five years to complete, according to a project representative for the development.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.