Planning commission approves rezoning at 3178 Elwyn Ragsdale Way to allow four homes

The Cherokee County Planning Commission on July 26 voted to rezone a property at 3178 Elwyn Ragsdale Way from R40 to R20, a change the applicant says will allow the construction of four single-family homes.

Planner Ms. Stallings summarized the staff report, saying the site is within the Southwest Cherokee area plan and that the requested R20 designation would permit the four homes at about two units per acre. She noted the nearby Devonshire subdivision had been rezoned to R20 with conditions in 2020 and said there were factors both for and against approval based on lot patterns and proximity to county-owned property planned as a park.

Applicant David Mena told the commission he owns the land and that the request is “mostly an economic consideration for how expensive the land is and the building material. I’m trying to put 4 houses in there.” Commissioners asked whether stormwater management had been considered; Mena said stormwater plans for each lot had been submitted to Ben Morgan and described individual-lot detention behind the proposed houses.

No members of the public signed up to speak for or against the request. After a brief discussion among commissioners about neighborhood character and sewer availability, the commission moved to approve the rezoning. The chair announced the motion passed unanimously.

The rezoning changes only the parcel’s zoning classification; any future building permits, infrastructure work or site-specific engineering (including final stormwater plans) will be reviewed under separate permitting processes.