Developer Todd Hall of Todd Homes, LLC and owner of the property explained in a presentation before council that he and the city have worked together closely for over a year on the planned subdivision. Hall said the plan to turn the site, currently an empty field, into a planned unit development aligns with the Trenton 2050 Comprehensive Plan, in which the city stressed its desire to place a park at the site in question.
The subdivision, known as Arlington Parke, would require an extension to W. Arlington Drive, which would act as primary access point. To the north, the subdivision’s roadway system would connect to Howe Road.
Hall told Council that the subdivision would help the City of Trenton “move forward.”
“Tonight, I’m asking you to vote yes for this. Why? Because I truly believe, after spending a year with staff and going back and forth, this benefits everybody in Trenton,” Hall said as he concluded his presentation. “Is there going to be pros and cons of any situation that comes before you? Absolutely. Do I truly believe this will be absolutely the best product and the best plan for Trenton? I sincerely do.”
Arlington Parke will neighbor several other subdivisions, Wanda Moyer of Aberdeen Drive
Wanda Moyer, a lawyer who lives on Aberdeen Drive, whose property butts up against the planned development, raised concerns about the traffic she fears the new development will bring to her area.
“You can’t put all those people in there and expect it to be calm. I mean you really can’t,” Moyer said to Hall and the council. “We’re just a quiet little town, and you’re gonna want to put in a main road in there and a gazillion houses. How are we gonna cover all the traffic?”
Mayor Calvin Woodrey told Moyer, “A lot of engineers have said that the traffic level will be better because you’ll have more outlets.”
“It doesn’t look like a bunch of outlets to me, just more traffic,” Moyer said in response. “I know what it looks like when somebody comes in to build on cornfields and [there’s only a two-lane road] going in and out: it’s just chaos. It’s chaos. But that’s what we want for our town, huh?”
Woodrey said, “You know, I bet when the property that your house sits on was developed, people said the same thing, and you just described your property as a quiet neighborhood.”
The only council member to vote nay on the relevant legislation to rezone the property to allow for a subdivision was Councilmember Cody Agee; Sharon Montgomery abstained, Vice Mayor Ryan Perry was absent.
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