The Athens city council held a public hearing for the de-annexation of approximately eight acres of city property on the west side of Mooresville Road and south of Newby Road.

The property owner, Andrew Dubois, applied for the de-annexation in order to use county sewer and water services for a townhome development on the property.

“We do have city services available to serve the property, so the staff doesn’t really see a reason that would justify the de-annexation request,” said city planner Matt Davidson. “The applicant has stated they are interested in developing this property for some townhomes, and it would be more economically feasible for them to get sewer from Limestone County, which is the reason why they are requesting the de-annex from the city limits.”

The city planning office does not support the de-annexation of Dubois’ property. Davidson does not see a justifiable reason for the de-annexation.

“The planning commission met back in January. They did recommend unanimously the de-annexation, but like I said, staff is not in favor of the request,” said Davidson.

Taz Morell of Morell Engineering spoke on behalf of Dubois. Currently, more than half of the property lies within Limestone County, and the remainder lies within the city limits.

“The applicant is requesting to de-annex it, the portion that is in the city, so that all of the property will lie in the county,” said Morell.

The original annexation was a part of an effort to prevent a rock quarry from being built in the area.

“This piece of property is all one piece of property. Half of it lies in the city of Athens and half of it is in the county. You may think ‘why does the city limit line run through the middle of the property?’ If you guys remember, the whole area of Mooresville Road and Cambridge Lane was planned to be a rock quarry at one time, and there was a large effort to ‘stop the rock’ from all the citizens of the city of Athens,” said Morell.

At the time, the land was not a part of the city of Athens. The city elected to annex the area 500 feet south of Newby Road, which caused the applicant’s property to be split between the city and the county.

“The water services for this area are in the Limestone County water and sewer area. There is also sewer just south of this track that belongs to the Limestone County water and sewer area,” said Morell. “Limestone County water and sewer cannot serve a piece of property that’s in the city limits. That’s why the property owner has requested to just de-annex the entire piece of property, and he could then appeal for water and sewer service from Limestone County water.”

Dubois believes it makes most economic sense for his property to be wholly in the county and receive water and sewage services from the county.

The city council elected to vote on this public hearing following the return of Councilman Harold Wales, whose district the property falls in.