BY DONNA SWICEGOOD
Despite safety concerns raised by two councilmembers, the Statesville City Council on Monday voted to allow developers to use an alternative style curb and guttering.
Statesville City Councilman C.O. Johnson said he believed a proposal to add an alternative style of curb and guttering to some city streets amounted to pandering to developers and the proposed style was a safety issue.
Referring to the city’s director of engineering, Matt Hubert, Johnson said the proposed change was a result of a conversation between Hubert and a contractor.
“He wants to impress the contractor it seems like,” Johnson said.
Johnson said he was opposed to the change to the city’s public works street construction and specifications manual mainly due to safety.
He recalled an instance while driving along Valley Street his car hit the curb. Johnson said there was a child there and had it been the valley style curbing he would have likely hit the child.
Councilman Steve Johnson said he was also concerned about the safety aspect, citing an accident he had when another vehicle turned in front of him and he nearly hit a woman walking along the street. He said had it been the proposed style he would have hit the woman.
Hubert said this proposal was not to appease contractors but was simply another tool for curb and guttering on some city streets. He said safety was considered and it was not considered unsafe.
He explained that the valley gutter style would be used on non-collector streets. The valley curbing, he said, allows for driveway cuts during the construction process rather than having to come back and put them in when curbing and guttering is already in place.
Councilwoman Kim Wasson said she lived in a development with the valley style and was pleased with it.
Hubert said the valley style had been used in Statesville in previous years and had been removed from the manual. He said it was removed in 2016, inadvertently added back in and then removed again in 2022.
The council, with the two Johnsons casting no votes, approved the change to the manual.
Vinyl siding allowed on James Farm Road townhomes
A 6-2 vote also allowed another change requested for a townhome development on James Farm Road.
Council heard a reading of the request to allow vinyl siding on the fronts of the townhomes. Previously the project was intended to be an apartment complex but that was changed to a townhome development. When it was proposed as an apartment complex, vinyl siding was not allowed on any right-of-way facing building.
With the change to a townhome complex, the developer asked to allow vinyl siding on portions of the front of the buildings.
Because the vote was not unanimous at the council’s previous meeting in February, the matter was brought back for consideration Monday.
Council members Joe Hudson and Amy Lawton voted against the change.
OTHER BUSINESS
♦ As part of the consent agenda, the council approved a $225,645.86 economic incentive to Doosan Bobcat. This was part of a multi-year economic incentive approved in 2021.
♦ Another item on the consent agenda was the passage of a resolution to annex property for the Barkley Springs Phase 2 development on Barkley Road. A public hearing on the annexation for the development is scheduled for March 17.