The east side of Athens’ corporate limits will eventually be a little more crowded after the City Council on Monday paved the way for a new 500-home development.

By unanimous decision, the council rezoned a little more than 300 acres as a high-density single-family residential district. The request was made by Piney Creek LLC, a group of local landowners.

The property is at the northwest corner of the intersection of Cambridge Lane and Newby Road, which is less than 3 miles from the site of the future Mazda Toyota Manufacturing U.S.A. facility. Speaking on behalf of Piney Creek LLC this week, Athens attorney Bill Mathews said planned development in the area is just one of the reasons why homebuilders would be attracted to the property.

“With Athens growing, the whole key to it is the proximity to Toyota-Mazda,” Mathews said. “It fits perfectly in the Athens plan because (the city) wants to put houses out there.”

The development represented an expansion of Athens’ corporate limits when the City Council decided to annex the property in March 2018. Until then, the property could have either been annexed by Athens, Madison or Huntsville, though Athens was the first choice.

“Athens has the brand new (high school) and an excellent education system,” Mathews said, adding that all three of his children excelled academically in Athens schools. “Athens has its arms open wide.”

It remains to be seen what, if any, strain the development would have on the city’s resources. Mathews previously told the council property could be set aside for a new fire and police station.

When asked about the two-lane Cambridge Lane, Mayor Ronnie Marks said Wednesday the road should hold up fine for now, but time would tell what impact additional traffic would have on it. He and Public Works Director James Rich have worked with the Alabama Department of Transportation on how to make the intersection of Cambridge and U.S. 72 safer.

“Hopefully, we can get an engineering plan designed within the next year,” the mayor said.

Schools a draw

Mathews said the project doesn’t have a name yet but it already has a lot of interest from homebuilders. While there are 305 total acres, only about 175 acres on the east side of Piney Creek will be developed. He said building on the other side would be too costly because it would require building a bridge across the creek.

The development will be built in several phases, with the first phase being 100 to 110 lots. There will also be a variety of home prices available, ranging from $200,000 to $400,000.

“A family could live in a house there and have a parent live in a retirement house,” he said. “There will be nice homes where you’d want to raise your kids.”

When Piney Creek LLC pitched the annexation proposal to the city, Mathews had explained there would be more than enough land for Athens City Schools to build an additional school, if needed. Mathews said he would love for that to happen, but he added the school system had not yet accepted the owners’ invitation.

“Anybody would want to have a school in their subdivision,” he said. “We’d sell houses like hotcakes.”

Mathews doesn’t know how long it might take to develop the first phase, but he said dirt will start moving when weather permits.