A new pet boarding facility is slated to open on Polo Drive.
Happi & Friends is seeking to build a 40-kennel facility on just over 3 acres in Ashlee Square, an office condominium complex.
The town’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen plans to discuss the final site plan for the 9,091-square-foot building on Jan. 27 during its regularly scheduled meeting.
A private dog park will also be included in the outdoor enclosed play area.
Access will be provided from Poplar Ave., near the Pep Boys, and from Poplar View Pkwy. The facility will also offer pet training.
Other Town News:
• Town staff is working to find an alternative solution to a previously approved drainage project.
During the Jan. 27 Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting, members plan to rescind the award of a bid for drainage improvements at the corner of Lawnwood Drive and Rhetts Way.
The board initially approved a bid on Nov. 25 for the residential flood project on the 600 block of Rhetts Way. The project consisted of the removal of the existing driveway, the installation of nearly 800 square feet of new driveway and a 4-inch sewer service. However, the homeowners pleaded with the board in hopes of resolving the ongoing drainage problem another way.
Debra Wright, who has lived on the northeast corner of Rhetts Way and E. Lawnwood Drive for nearly 35 years, has been dealing with flooding issues for more than a decade.
In an effort to give the Board a “window into” her family’s life “for the last 15-to-20 years,” Wright said she pays around $500 annually for flood insurance.
Board members approved $27,507 in future drainage improvements for the property.
When Wright expressed concerns that the upgrades would not work, Mayor Stan Joyner asked that Town Engineer Dale Perryman remain in contact with the family to possibly come up with an “alternative plan.” The current project includes “conditions that the property owner was required to meet.”
After the board approved the project, staff met with the Wrights to discuss the conditions.
“The property owner is not willing to meet these conditions,” said Jay Cravens, director of Development for the town. “Town staff has begun working on other options that could correct drainage issues.”
“Every member of the Board is very familiar with your plight,” Joyner said to the Wrights last year. “It has been approved to make some improvements there. But I don’t think everybody, including the Wrights, have a lot of faith that it is going to work.”
Jay Cravens, director of Development for the town, said construction standards were “very basic in trying to preserve the natural terrain and trees” when the subdivision was first recorded in 1978.
“Drainage calculations were also very basic,” he noted.
In May 2010, the town installed inlets and drainage pipes along the east property to alleviate some of the flooding issues.
“While this helped,” Cravens noted, “due to the limited size of the pipes downstream, short flash flood rain events still cause flooding.” “I’ve spent restless nights praying for the rain to stop,” Wright said, holding back tears.
“There is no piece of mind. “I’m asking each one of you, individually, to do what you can to help us,” she concluded. “We need your very best.”
• Collierville is seeking to annex nearly 33 acres of vacant land south of the town’s new high school to create a new residential neighborhood.
Earlier this month, the Planning Commission approved the annexation, zoning and related “plan of services” for the property, which is located on the east side of Sycamore Road and south of East Shelby Drive.
The town’s board is scheduled to approve the annexation next Monday night. The land is within the town’s reserve area, which was approved in 1999.
The tentative date for annexation and zoning will be March 1.
There are no buildings currently on the land, which is directly south of the high school campus.
Staff reports state that, “A municipality will annex for many reasons, such as to protect or to enhance the municipal tax base, to increase size and population, to ensure unified planning and zoning, to distribute the cost of services more equitably, and to ensure orderly future growth in accordance with town standards.”
All annexations require a “plan of services” in order to outline amenities that will be made available to the land being annexed and the time frame that the services will be provided.
Records state that the annexation is consistent with the town’s 2040 Land Use Plan, which shows that the area “will develop as a conventional suburban neighborhood and will be characterized by low density single family detached houses.”
If the Planning Commission approves the request, the matter must be passed by the town’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen.
A public hearing will be held to discuss the annexation if the Board puts the matter on its agenda. The property owners (Cartwright Farms Partnership) have provided written consent to the annexation.
The land consists of two tracts and is within the town’s “urban growth boundary.”
If annexed, the property will be provided with police and fire protection, as well as water, electrical, sewer and solid waste services.
The town will also provide street construction and repairs, recreational facilities, street lighting and allowance into the municipal school district.
