The Starkville planning and zoning commission Tuesday approved a preliminary plat for a 44-lot RV park at the corner of Spring Street and Lincoln Green.
The plat for Starkville Station RV Park now will go before the city”s Board of Aldermen for approval, but not before developer Jeremy Tabor and engineer Clyde Pritchard modify it to include sidewalks on both sides of the park”s roadways.
Planning and zoning commission members Tuesday recommended the Board of Aldermen approve the plat for the five-acre site conditional upon the inclusion of sidewalks, which are required along all new roads in the city.
Pritchard said he is concerned sidewalks in the park will crack and crumble under the weight of RVs and motor coaches as drivers attempt to park the massive vehicles on their concrete lots.
“They”re not intended to take traffic, but we anticipate they probably will,” Pritchard said of the sidewalks.
Pritchard, Tabor and landowner Steve Roberts, however, agreed to include sidewalks in the plans when they go before the Board of Aldermen.
Still, planning and zoning commission member Jerry Emison was leery to approve a plat which didn”t include sidewalks, as required by the city”s subdivision and sidewalk regulations.
“I just don”t think it”s good public policy to approve something you can”t see,” Emison said.
Emison and the rest of the planning and zoning commission ultimately approved the plat with a 4-0 vote. Chairman Dora Herring and member Jason Walker were absent, while vice chairman Ira Loveless, who was serving as chairman in Herring”s absence, did not vote.
Emison also was concerned the RV park eventually will turn into a trailer park.
“I”m just afraid that 10 to 15 years down the road, people will be able to pull their trailer in and live there,” Emison said.
The park”s rules and regulations, however, say occupancy is limited to no more than 180 continuous days per year year, and no occupant may reside at the space as their sole residency in Oktibbeha County. Additionally, no mail service will be available, Roberts said.
It would be up to the city to enforce the issue if occupants try to take up permanent residency at the RV park.
A preliminary plat for the project is expected to go before the Board of Aldermen at its next meeting, scheduled for June 15 at 5:30 p.m. in City Hall. The Board of Aldermen must approve preliminary and final plats for the project before construction can begin.
The RV park will be geared toward Mississippi State alumni who come back to Starkville for MSU events, or just to visit the city, Roberts said.
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