Putnam planning commission recommends rezoning on Phillips Dairy Road to permit towing and repair facility

The Putnam County Planning Commission voted to recommend approval of REZ25-000012, forwarding the applicant’s request to the Board of County Commissioners for final action on Jan. 13, 2025. The application seeks to rezone 3.23 acres on the north side of Phillips Dairy Road from Residential-2 to Commercial Intensive (C‑4) to allow a towing and mechanical business.

Michael Graves of Planning and Development Services told the commission that "staff recommends denial" because the parcel does not meet the comprehensive-plan locational requirements for a C‑4 district, in part because it lacks access to a collector road and is not part of an established commercial node. Jason Brown, the property owner and applicant, described purchasing a derelict lot, removing dumped tires and debris, fencing the site, and intending to use Phillips Dairy Road as the only planned business access. "We're a locally owned family owned business," Brown said, describing plans for towing and mechanical work and saying he had cleaned the lot and spoken with neighbors.

Several neighbors raised concerns during public comment about increased traffic, possible opening of side streets, noise and the potential effect on property taxes. Resident Matthew Gilliam told the commission he "would not like a lot of traffic going through there because it's all residential," and residents asked whether dead-end or vacated streets adjacent to the parcel might be reopened. Staff and commissioners responded that rezoning itself does not automatically change tax assessments and that detailed access, landscaping and noise-mitigation measures would be addressed at the Development Review Committee (DRC) stage.

Commission discussion focused on whether the land met the county's locational standard for C‑4 zoning. Multiple members said they understood staff's point but felt the parcel's context and adjacent commercial uses warranted forwarding the rezoning recommendation. Commissioners emphasized limiting egress to Phillips Dairy Road and leaving site-level mitigation, including required buffers, to the DRC. Michael Graves outlined the C‑4 buffer expectations, noting that a class C buffer requires a vegetative row, a six-foot fence or solid wall (no barbed wire within 100 feet of residential zoning), and evergreen plantings to screen adjacent homes.

A motion to recommend approval carried on a voice vote; the chair said the case will go to the Board of County Commissioners on Jan. 13, 2025, and that — if approved by the board — the project will return to DRC for site plan review. The commission recorded the parcel size as 3.23 acres.