Commission to forward plan change allowing neighborhood church in office park

The Oconee County Planning Commission on June 16 recommended approval of a modification to rezoning P26-0117 that would remove a prior prohibition on a neighborhood-scale church within an office park and update parking calculations for mixed uses. Staff recommended conditional approval with limits on total building square footage, lighting orientation, dumpster location, and UDC compliance for church uses.

Staff presented the request for parcels B06M800 and B06M900 (currently OIP in the civic center character area) and explained the modification would allow two existing buildings in the office park to be used by a neighborhood-scale church. Staff said the applicant provided a recorded plat and a concept plan illustrating the two buildings; staff recommended conditional approval and set provisions including a 63,700-square-foot cap on total building area, interior-oriented site lighting to avoid glare on neighboring residential properties, dumpsters located more than 100 feet from residential property lines, and an approved field change to document parking allocations for the church use.

The commission noted no applicant representative had signed in and no one from the public spoke in favor or opposition; commissioners asked staff to confirm whether shared parking required private agreements. Staff said the site functions as a condominium plat with common area parking, so shared parking is inherent to the plat and parking allocations will be addressed through an approved field change.

A motion to approve the modification with staff conditions was made, seconded and voted on; the transcript records the motion and the chair’s call for a vote but does not contain a complete roll-call tally. The commission forwarded the recommendation to the Oconee County Board of Commissioners for final action.

The transcript does not record a formal applicant presentation at the meeting and no public commenters were recorded for this item.