3/14/2016 Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes
GORDON COUNTY
PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION MINUTES
MARCH 14, 2016
The Gordon County Planning Commission held a Public Hearing on Monday, March 14, 2016 at 6:00 p.m. in the Conference Room of the Gordon County Administration Building for the purpose of hearing variance and zoning change requests.
Members present were:
Randy Rule, Eddie Smith, Butch Layson, Nathan Serritt, Jerry Lovelace
Randy Rule called the meeting to order and advised all present of the sign-up sheets available for those who wish to address the Planning Commission on any of the zoning or variance change applications.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
A motion was made by Jerry Lovelace to approve the minutes of the previous meeting of February 8, 2016. Eddie Smith seconded the motion. All voted aye. The minutes were approved as written.
VARIANCE APPLICATION #V16-01 AND REZONING APPLICATIONS #Z16-03 & Z16-04, BRENDA G. ARNOLD
Chairman Rule read variance application #V16-01 and rezoning applications #Z16-03 and #Z16-04, Brenda G. Arnold, on a 1.48 acre tract located at 442 Lovers Lane Road. David “Mitchell” Washington represented the applications for his mother, requesting to be able to subdivide the 1.48 acre tract into a .48 acre tract with the existing home therefore needing a variance of .14 acre to be able to rezone this same .48 acre tract from A-1 to R-1 and to rezone the other 1 acre tract from A-1 to C-G for the operation of selling used cars. All adjoining property owners had been notified.
Ursula Desrosier, Zoning Administrator for Gordon County, recommended that the variance request identified as application #V16-01 and rezoning requests identified as application #Z16-03 and #Z16-04 all be approved.
On Variance Application #V16-01, Nathan Serritt made the motion to approve the variance to reduce the required lot size for R-1 zoning from .57 acres down to .48 acres. Jerry Lovelace seconded the motion. All voted aye. The variance was granted. The thirty-(30) day appeal period was explained.
On Rezoning Application #Z16-03, Eddie Smith made the motion to approve the rezoning application from A-1 to R-1. Jerry Lovelace seconded the motion. All voted aye. The recommendation for approval was sent to the Board of Commissioners.
On Rezoning Application #Z16-04, Jerry Lovelace made the motion to approve the rezoning application from A-1 to C-G. Eddie Smith seconded the motion. All voted aye. The recommendation for approval was sent to the Board of Commissioners.
VARIANCE APPLICATION #V16-02 AND REZONING APPLICATION #Z16-05, CHARLES AND NANCY RICHARDS (APPLICANT: GLENDA SLOAN)
Chairman Rule read variance application #V16-02 and rezoning application #Z16-05, Charles and Nancy Richards (applicant: Glenda Sloan), on 8.52 acres located at 4560 Fairmount Hwy., Calhoun. Terry Brumlow, a local attorney, represented the requests explaining that this property had been brought to this planning commission back in April 2015 for changing to a R-5 zoning and that the Planning Commission and Board of Commissioners denied, wanting to keep Highway 53 open as a commercial corridor. Mr. Brumlow stated now they would like to ask for a MU zoning that would require a variance of 1.48 acres since the MU zoning requires 10 acres, and that this would be a long process of developing the side of the property on Old Fairmount Highway into a good quality housing development leaving the Highway 53 open for some type of commercial development. It was added that this property could be connected with the City of Calhoun public sewer that runs along Highway 53 and that there was a contract in place with JPM Development. Craig Jeup, with JPM Development, stated that the drawing now showed how they had scaled back the apartments from 72 units to 64 units leaving 3.38 acres along Highway 53 open to be sold for someone to develop into a commercial business. Tammy Freeman, a local realtor representing JPM Development, spoke in support for this rezoning and variance stating that this is very much needed in Gordon County because of the shortage of rental property that is available and since this development would have 1, 2, and 3 bedroom units it would certainly help with that void. Judith Ralston, who has power of attorney for her mother in property matters and her mother lives directly across the road from the Richards, spoke in opposition to the applications, stating that they worry about what the housing development would do to the property values in the area since all the property in this area is very valuable and they would like to see it remain commercial. She also mentioned her concern with tax credit housing and what type of residents would qualify to live there. Dana Mashburn, an area homeowner, spoke in opposition to the applications, stating that she was concerned that if housing was allowed that it would halt future commercial developments by the housing being land locked, therefore she could not see a Publix, Target, etc. even looking at this area. The property is only 2/10 mile from I-75, on one of the busiest exits in Georgia and she feels that this property is much too valuable for residential use and also just think of the sales tax revenue that could be generated to our county with big box retailers. She also added that Gordon County should not pass up on an opportunity like that and stay with the comprehensive plan. All adjoining property owners had been notified.
Ursula Desrosier, Zoning Administrator for Gordon County, recommended that the variance request identified as Application #V16-02 be approved and on the zoning request identified as Application #Z16-05 be also approved with the following condition: All applicable state and local regulations shall be complied with, including but not limited to Gordon County landscaping and buffer requirements.
On Variance Application #V16-02, Nathan Serritt made the motion to deny the variance to reduce the required acres from 10 acres down to 8.52 acres for MU zoning. Eddie Smith seconded the motion. Butch Layson stated he would abstain from voting since he owned adjoining property. Jerry Lovelace voted against the motion. The vote was 2 to 1 to deny. The variance was denied. The thirty-(30) day appeal period was explained.
On Rezoning Application #Z16-05, Nathan Serritt made the motion to deny the rezoning application from A-1 to MU. Eddie Smith seconded the motion. Butch Layson stated he would abstain from voting since he owned adjoining property. Jerry Lovelace voted against the motion. The vote was 2 to 1 to deny. The recommendation for denial was sent to the Board of Commissioners.
REZONING APPLICATION #Z16-06, MARVIN L. ROBERTS
Chairman Rule read rezoning application #Z16-06, Marvin L. Roberts, requesting to rezone a 2 acre tract located at 3286 Chatsworth Hwy. 225 NE, Calhoun from C-G to A-1. Mr. Roberts represented the request explaining that the property had previously been used for a flea market and now he just wants to combine it back in with the rest of his property. All adjoining property owners had been notified.
Ursula Desrosier, Zoning Administrator for Gordon County, recommended that the rezoning request identified as Application #Z16-06 be approved.
Jerry Lovelace made the motion to approve the rezoning application identified as #Z16-06 from C-G to A-1. Butch Layson seconded the motion. All voted aye. The recommendation for approval was sent to the Board of Commissioners.
REZONING APPLICATION #Z16-07, LANIER ROLAND (APPLICANT: BRIAN AND VICKI BAXTER)
Chairman Rule read rezoning application #Z16-07, Lanier Roland (applicant: Brian and Vicki Baxter), requesting to rezone a 1 acre tract located on Red Bud Road, Calhoun from A-1 to R-1. Terry Brumlow, a local attorney represented the request, explaining that Mr. Lanier would like to sell this 1 acre tract to his wife’s sister for them to build a new home and be close to one another. All adjoining property owners had been notified.
Ursula Desrosier, Zoning Administrator for Gordon County, recommended that the rezoning request identified as Application #Z16-07 be approved.
Nathan Serritt made the motion to approve the rezoning application identified as #Z16-07 from A-1 to R-1. Jerry Lovelace seconded the motion. All voted aye. The recommendation for approval was sent to the Board of Commissioners.
ADDITIONAL BUSINESS
There being no additional business, Eddie Smith made the motion to adjourn. Butch Layson seconded the motion. All voted aye. The meeting was adjourned at 6:55 p.m.
