News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
The Putnam County Planning Commission discussed possible changes to the county’s subdivision regulations during Tuesday night’s meeting.
One of the main topics, road standards. Commissioner Patrick Rinks said currently the county requires six inches of rock and two inches of asphalt. But the county Highway Superintendent wants to require two inches of binder to improve longevity.
“Our spec now is basically what you would put in a parking lot,” Rinks said. “Low traffic where you park cars. He is wanting something more durable. It’s going to add quite a bit of expense cause the asphalt is a large part of it now and you are basically going to double it. ”
The commission also discussed the possible requirement for middle stakes in each lot and certification of requirements from the Postal Service so that owners do not miss those. No action taken Tuesday night.
Highway Superintendent Randy Jones was not able to attend the meeting and the commission will hope to have him speak about his proposal in February’s meeting. Rinks said if the commission does approve to amend the road standards it would better the roads but would be a big change for developers.
“It’s headed in that direction the City of Cookeville I think requires that now,” Rinks said. “It’s gonna be a pretty drastic change for what developers are used to in the county.”
The commission also discussed requiring developers to add a lot number stake to the middle of a lot in the right-of-way. Planning Director Kevin Rush said currently lots are only required a number stake at each corner. Rush said he got the inspiration for the change from a recent subdivision project.
“As you were driving you could see exactly what lots were running and it made it really nice to do your fieldwork,” Rush said. “A lot of times when Partick and I are out we are looking for stakes that are buried in a thicket and maybe you will see a survey ribbon on a limb. This would just make it where you add an additional stake to where it would be along the front in the middle of the lot so you can tell where the lots are.”
A few surveyors had concerns that developers may mistake it for a corner stake. Rush said they would likely require a different type of stake to clarify that it is not a corner stake.
The last change the commission discussed was a United States Postal Service certificate to be added. Rush said in some cases the postal service requires a cluster box for mail delivery and collection in subdivisions.
“I just want to make sure that when the owner signs that they are aware that there is a requirement that they may be required to put in a cluster box unit by the U.S. Postal Service for mail delivery on either a separate plat note that they sign or modifying the owner certificate to state they are aware,” Rush said.
Chairman David Mattson said the commission should consider doing more than just adding a certificate.
“I wonder if we ought to go a step further and make sure when these plots are getting designed that there is an appropriate queueing area and pull-off area for cars to get their mail,” Mattson said. “Otherwise we are gonna wind up like this subdivision at Burgess Falls and Cane Creek with eight cars piling up at a cluster box,” Rush said.
Rush said several years ago a postmaster told the commission if a subdivision had seven or more lots a cluster box was needed. Rush said he had no idea if that is still the rule. Rush said he will look more into the changes to further discuss at a later meeting.
In other business, the commission approved subdivision plats on Freehill Road and Lafever Road.
