Helena City Council rejected a developer’s plans to divide a 20-acre plot off Highway 13 into four parcels.

The property, owned by Birmingham Southern College, lies adjacent to Cabin View Trail.

Several property owners from Cabin View Trail attended Monday night’s Helena City Council meeting, opposing the plans.

Laura May owns property at the end of Cabin View Trail, and described the sprawling, 20 to 50 acre lots along the private, gravel road.

May and council members said Cabin View Trail, which is gravel and requires regular maintenance such as scraping, could not sustain additional development.

The proposal, brought before the council by Thagard and Associates representing Birmingham Southern College, was recommended for denial on Oct. 23 by the Helena Planning and Zoning Commission.

Bill Thagard appealed the denial during Monday’s meeting.

Helena Councilman Tom Lefebvre supported the planning commission’s recommendation.

&uot;If you want to subdivide this place, I think you ought to be required to abide by subdivision regulations,&uot; he said.

According to Jim Minner of the Helena Planning Commission, plans to divide any property into two or more pieces must meet the city’s subdivision regulations.

Lefebvre addressed Thagard directly as he stood before the council suggesting a road association might meet neighbor’s concerns about maintenance of Cabin View Trail.

&uot;The people who are there like it the way it is,&uot; Lefebvre said.

In other news from the Helena City Council:

* Council members tabled a motion to adopt the Helena Comprehensive Plan.

Council members said inconsistencies with a study completed by Auburn University might not match the plan.

* Council members approved site plans submitted by Ronnie Morton for the Old Town Commercial Center, located between The Depot and the Old Town subdivision.