BLYTHEWOOD – As Blythewood continues to grow, planning commissioners are slated to receive additional training.
At a joint council and planning commission on November 14, Williamson told commissioners the training is necessary as large requests, such as new subdivisions, are becoming more likely in the near future.
“There hasn’t been, since I’ve been here, a residential subdivision that’s come before the planning commission,” he said. “You all have a critical role to play in that. That’s a big responsibility.”
Williamson said the training would help commissioners to better understand what they can and cannot require when pondering large subdivisions with several hundred lots.
“There’s an emphasis on subdivisions and how they connect with adjacent subdivisions,” he said. “How they get accessed and transportation and traffic are a big deal.”
For example, planning commissioners can require developers to include a fire station, sidewalks or playgrounds as conditions for approving large residential developments.
However, they cannot require larger lots or deny requests the zoning code allows a developer to do.
“I just want to reiterate that those are some of the responsibilities you have,” Williamson said. “Blythewood is growing, it has several large tracts of land. They [large subdivisions] are on the horizon.”
Commission chair Malcolm Gordge thanked Williamson for briefing the commission.
“This is a very helpful checklist,” Gordge said. “It helps us to focus and come to a decision in a reasonable amount of time.”