Three times Thursday afternoon the Troy City Planning Commission denied requests related to a planned development off Woodland Circle as about 75 residents of the neighborhood sat in wait.

The request centered on an area north of Woodland Circle, west of George Wallace Drive and south of Lee Street. It was for a 16.59 acre Planned Unit Development, consisting of 42 resident lots, 6,000-square feet, and about 6.5 acres of parks and green space to be located north of Woodland Circle, west of George Wallace Drive and south of Lee Streets in a Low Density Residential Zoning District.

The request was presented by Walt Stell, Environmental Precision Associates, who represented Robert Floyd Garden Properties.

The first request presented to the commission was to table the request. Request denied.

The second request was to remove the request from the agenda. Request denied.

The commission then considered and denied the request.

Commission member Jack Norton made the motion on all three issues before the planning commission.

Before the Planning Commission voted on the PUD sketch plan approval request, Bill Hopper, chair, gave those in attendance an opportunity to voice their opinions.

As Barbara White, spokesperson for the group, outlined the citizens’ reasons for opposing the request, signs that read “NO to PUD” were raised in visual opposition the request.

White said the residents of the Woodland Circle neighborhood were opposed to the request because, in their opinion, it was in violation of the city’s zoning regulations.

She said the 42 units would bring increased traffic to the area and, as a high-density area, there would be increased noise and also the potential for crime would increase.

“And this would be in our backyard,” White said.

Joyce Austin said in granting the request, the planning commission would not be following the city’s master plan, which is a vision of what the city could be.

“We don’t have to put a house on every green spot in town,” Austin said. “If it’s one small plot today, what will it be tomorrow? Why don’t we do something that we can be proud of?”

Austin said that by approving rezoning requests such as the request before the planning commission, the integrity of city’s neighborhoods is being destroyed.

“I say, ‘No, now and forever’ because we don’t want to have to keep coming back down here every two or three weeks to try to keep our city one that we can take pride in,” she said.

Norton said that he was proud to see citizens who cared enough about their neighborhood and their city to take a stand for what they believed to in the best interest of Troy.

City Councilman Charles Meeks said that he, too, applauded the efforts of those who came.

“I’m proud to see a community stick together on an issue before them,” he said. “It’s very encouraging. I came back from Panama City to be with them. It’s good to see people take a stand.”

The Planning Commission considered and approved a request for a final plat approval on a portion of lots two and seven of the Highland Park Addition on Woodland Circle.

The request was to combine two lots for a single-family dwelling

That request was also presented by Stell, who represented Floyd and Garden Properties.