City approves development plans for Publix

Some Dothan Planning Commissioners said it was among the best projects that has come before the board in 20 years in terms of reaching out to neighbors to protect their quality of life.

By putting in a 10-foot undisturbed buffer, a 30-foot landscaped berm, a 6-foot privacy fence, and a retention pond that is both fenced and stocked with bream to keep down the insects, Publix and Aronov Realty Management are proving to be good neighbors indeed.

Commissioners approved plans for two large retail developments on Wednesday – Westway Publix at West Main Street and John D. Odom Road, a 13-acre shopping center locating on a 22-acre site, and Cottonwood Corners at Ross Clark Circle and East Cottonwood Road, on 21 acres. Publix grocery store, based in Lakeland, Fla., is the anchor store for both projects.

“I look upon this day as a monumental day,” Chairman Chuck Harris said. “It’s like when people kept asking ‘When are we going to get an Olive Garden?’ which turned into ‘When are we going to get a Publix?’”

That day, Harris said, has arrived, with developers planning to break ground before the end of the year. Officials said they are most impressed with the extent of the landscaping.

“I’ve been on the planning commission 18 years,” Harris said. “I have never seen such detail in a plan. And a meeting was held with local residents about their concerns. The developer made a number of changes using that input.”

Harris also took as evidence of a good project, the fact that no one from the Azalea Park Subdivision behind the Cottonwood Road project, came out for the public hearing.

More than a dozen Westbrook subdivision residents attended the meeting, asking questions about the fence and the natural barriers. One complained that the Circle City is becoming the Strip mall City.

Residents were told an outparcel closest to the entrance to Westbrook would not be utilized for a fast-food restaurant.

Landscape architect Linda Lurwig said there will be a lot of leyland cypress and wax myrtles planted, as a fast-growing screen at the rear of the complex.

“We were very concerned that we be good neighbors,” Lurwig said. “The ordinance only required us to do a 10-foot buffer. We made sure we moved our development forward enough to have 50 feet from the property line to where the pavement starts.

“Along the service drive, we put in wax myrtles. They grow very fast and very large. They will be 10 feet tall. Then there is a row of maple trees that will grow up to 50 feet tall. We are trying to get a lot of things going between us and the neighborhoods. We felt like we were hitting it with a lot of different layers.”