Development company D.R. Horton has withdrawn its application for three variances that would aid in bringing a proposed subdivision that would add more than 700 homes to the City of Petal, but company officials still plan to pursue that development under current city guidelines.
Mayor Tony Ducker said the applications will still be placed on the January 16 meeting of the Petal Board of Aldermen, but will be removed at the beginning of the meeting, per D.R. Horton’s request.
“My assumption is that they’re proceeding under our (regular) subdivision regulations,” Ducker said. “So there will periods of time where they will be in touch with our building department and our engineer.
“There’s nothing that’s led me to believe they’re not (going forward with the proposed subdivision). In the email they sent to us, they basically said ‘we’re going to withdraw our requests for these variances.’”
The variances were addressed at a January 9 meeting of the Petal Planning Commission, which was held at Petal Civic Center to accommodate the large number of residents who wished to voice their opinion on the manner. At that meeting, commission members voted to recommend the denial of the three variances.
The Petal Board of Aldermen was then expected to decide whether to uphold that recommendation, until D.R. Horton made the decision to withdraw its requests.
The requested variances which the commission recommended to deny include:
- A request to install surface ditches with proper gradients to natural outfalls instead of curbs and gutters, with drop inlets and storm drains underground;
- A request for a variance of the 75-foot minimum lot width in favor of a mixture of 70-foot and 80-foot-wide lots; and
- A request for a variance of the minimum 15-foot side yard setback in favor of a 10-foot side yard setback.
The subdivision, which would be developed by D.R. Horton, would be located on a 257-parcel acre off Trussell Road south of Mississippi 42 and Petal First Baptist Church.
“The assumption on our side is that they’re just going to carry on with the understanding that things didn’t work out the way they wanted the other night (at the planning commission meeting), and didn’t feel like they would (at the aldermen) meeting either,” Ducker said.
More than 100 attendees showed up to the meeting at the civic center, including D.R. Horton developer Jeff Diamond – who spoke in favor of the project – and several residents who spoke out against it.
“We have not entered the design phase on any of this yet … and this is a long process,” Diamond said.
I think you’re looking at, even if the weather cooperates, nine or 10 months of construction, and it could be as much as 12 to 14 months of construction. I think the earliest you would see requests for Certificates of Occupancy would be really close to the end of 2025.”
Jerry DeFatta, who serves as chairman of the Petal School District Board of Trustees, said he is concerned about the number of residents the proposed development would bring to the school district. DeFatta said over the past decade, the school district has grown by approximately 50 students per year, which officials have been able to accommodate because of the “slow but steady” growth in the city.
“The key here is ‘slow and steady,’ and what we’re talking about here tonight is anything but ‘slow and steady,’” DeFatta said. “If we just take the D.R. Horton property we’re talking about here tonight, you’re looking at 714 homes over the next six to eight years. If you look at the number of children the average family in America has, which is 1.98, and say that half of the 700 homes (in the proposed subdivision) are filled with two kids that are school age, that’s going to add 53 kids per grade.
“That’s two classroom spaces and 26 teachers that we’d have to hire. Simply put, the educational experience in this community would change. We’ll be putting ourselves in a situation where we won’t be able to go back to the taxpayers and ask for more bond money … so there won’t be an opportunity for more bond money.”
Ducker said nothing is set in stone, but as of right now, he doesn’t foresee another meeting such as the one at the civic center.
“We’re going to treat (D.R. Horton) like we would treat anybody,” he said. “We’ve got some tough regulations in regards to subdivision, so we won’t treat them any different than we treat anybody else.
“Obviously, this is one of the biggest projects we’ve ever seen, we need to keep that in mind as well. We’re going to take our time on our side, when things are presented to us, to make sure they’re correct.”
