The Troy Planning Commission will consider a request Thursday to annex a property on Elba Highway into the city and rezone it for the development of an apartment complex.

The planned complex would consist of seven two-story eight-unit buildings as well as a clubhouse and exercise room. It would have a total of 56 units on approximately 12.5 acres, or about 4.5 units per acre. The apartment complex would be subsidized housing, financed through tax credits and rent by the tenants.

“We’ve already secured funding for this complex at this site,” said Mitchell Davenport of Clement and Company LLC, which is developing the site. “The buildings are smaller, a little more scaled to the neighborhood around us. The way it is right now, we’ve got plenty of room for a buffer to still leave plenty of vegetation around us.”

Davenport said the apartment complex was originally planned for development on the property without annexing it into the city, but that plan changed when the city council adopted a new sewer policy in October.

“Unfortunately, I’ve been working on this development about a year now and in the process of doing due diligence, I confirmed water and sewer would be available to the property even though it was not in the city limits,” Davenport said. “I received letters from the water and sewer departments confirming that. So I moved forward with an application for financing through Alabama Housing Finance Authority.”

On October 8, the Troy City Council voted to change its policy, no longer providing sewer to properties outside the city limits.

“We’re seeing a lot of growth right now and we want to make sure that growth is managed, measured and that we’re doing the things we need to do,” Mayor Jason Reeves said about the ordinance during the meeting. “There are multiple areas outside of the city limits that want access to city services. But when you’re outside the city limits, there is no zoning authority, no planning authority or anything of that nature. If we’re going to allow people to come in and possibly take advantage of our services, we need to put them on the same playing field as everyone we service inside the city limits.”

Davenport then had to request annexation into the city and for the new property to be rezoned for apartment use. He was originally on the agenda for the October meeting of the Planning Commission, but requested an additional 30 days to talk to neighbors from the area who had shown up to oppose the request. The commission granted to table the request, pushing it to the November meeting.

Davenport said there are misconceptions about the complex.

“The reality is the people that would live here are people that wake up and go to work in the Troy community every day; they’re good people,” Davenport said.