By Marla Jones, Reporter • marla@southerntorch.com

RAINSVILLE, Ala. — (Full Video Below) The Rainsville Planning Commission met on Monday, October 29 to discuss the new subdivision regulations for the City of Rainsville.

In the absence of Mayor Rodger Lingerfelt, Councilmember and Committee Liaison Brandon Freeman conducted the meeting.

City Attorney Nikki Scott opened the meeting by explaining that these subdivision regulations were prepared and presented by TARCOG (The Top of Alabama Regional Council of Governments) in conjunction with the City of Rainsville.

According to the Code of Alabama, this gives the Planning Commission the sole authority to decide to adopt or not. Once voted on by the committee, it will be recorded in the Probate Office and published in the paper. Scott advised that this will maintain uniformity in the City.

The Mayor selected the following people to serve on the Rainsville Planning Commission: Skeeter Logan (chairperson), Carol Laney, Sandy Goff, Kathy Gledhill, Jeffrey Pope, Zane Mitchell, David Snay, and Brandon Freeman. All members, including Mayor Lingerfelt with the exception of Councilmember Freeman, are voting members.

Several concerned citizens voiced their questions during the public hearing.

Rainsville contractor Trampas Shankles voiced his concerns on buying a piece of property and spending $5,000 to $10,000 to get a plat ready for approval, only to be turned down by the Planning Commission. The new regulations require the votes of six out of the Commission’s eight voting members.

Shankles was concerned by the regulations regarding unsafe and unsanitary issues and who would be the deciding factor on those issues. He was also concerned with the amount of traffic in the subdivisions.

Rainsville Revenue Officer Richard Gibson stated that if the developers went by county regulations and got approval from the necessary outlets (which are listed below), then there would not be any problem.

“Although the Mayor was not there as the head of the Planning Commission, I do feel that the majority of my questions were answered to my satisfaction. I do feel leery about purchasing any additional property in the City of Rainsville for subdivisions, especially due to the newly mandated 60-foot right-of-way,” said Shankles.

The question was asked, “Will this affect existing subdivisions?” to which it was replied that all existing subdivision projects are grandfathered in.

One question centered around the complaints from Maple Avenue residents regarding their frustration with a lack of cooperation from the City to help pave their street. The developers for those lots did not get the proposed street up to City specifications once all the lots were sold. The responsibility of paving the road has been in question for over 10 years and has brought heated debate to some Council meetings in the last 2 years.

The Planning Commission clarified that the new subdivision regulations were designed in part to prevent future conflicts over street building and specifications such as the issues that have occurred on Maple Avenue.

“I hope that we’ll never see that again,” said Councilmember Freeman. “If this was in place, that subdivision would have never happened.”

Planning Commission Chairperson Skeeter Logan stated, “Due to continued growth in the Rainsville area, there needed to be a set of regulations and policies in place so developers could know beforehand what was needed. It is a two-prong deal: the area has to be zoned correctly and needs to be in regulation with several different agencies.”

“The new regulations require a certificate of approval from Sand Mountain Electric Cooperative, Farmers Telephone Cooperative, Section-Dutton Water Board or Northeast Alabama Water Board, the Rainsville Sanitation and Sewer Board, the DeKalb County Health Department, the Planning and Zoning Board for the City of Rainsville and approval by City Engineer Sam Phillips,” he concluded.

The new regulations were passed unanimously by the attending members of the Planning Commission.