Pending the council's final approval, about 2.5 acres at 213 E. Heritage Drive, which is now vacant but was once a nursing home, will be rezoned from single-family residential and multifamily residential to planned unit development dubbed Friends Heights. Father-and-son developers Harold and Edmond Benson want to convert the area into 12 individual lots with garages on the ground floors and living space in the second and third floors, they said.
The city has expressed a requirement to elevate whatever property is built at the site above where the nursing home once sat because it is prone to flooding, which is why the Bensons plan to build homes with garages on the first floors, they said.
During a catastrophic rain or storm surge event, Friends Heights residents may lose their cars, but they would not lose their homes, Edmond Benson said.
Council Member Steve Rockey asked if there is anything the city can do to prevent residents from converting the garages into living spaces.
City Manager Morad Kabiri said if anyone who wants to convert their garage into a living space applies for a permit, the city has the ability to decline the permit. The problem is many do not apply for city permits before converting garages into living spaces, he said.
“I’m not suggesting that this will happen here [at Friends Heights], but that is the concern that exists," Kabiri said.
Council Member John Scott said it is not the city's concern if residents choose to convert their garages into sewing rooms or recreational spaces or other living quarters. It is residents' responsibility to weigh the risk and insure their own property.
Kabiri said he agrees, but it is the city who gets calls from residents when they flood and are devastated their living spaces are ruined.
Harold Benson said the planned unit development would allow for homes residents would own and maintain themselves. This is more desirable from a tax perspective than apartments and other rental properties the single-family and multifamily zoning allows for, he said.
Council members agreed the Bensons' plan is the best use for the vacant land.
"It makes all the sense in the world," Scott said.
