Commission hears Highway 29 rezone request aimed at neighborhood amenities; staff recommends conditions

Planning Director Bruce Lonnie presented a request to change the future land use from Neighborhood Center to Major Corridor and to rezone 2.38 acres of a 4.17-acre parcel at 1295 US Highway 29 North from Agricultural Residential (AR) to Commercial General (CG). The applicant seeks two standalone retail structures with shared access and surface parking that would also support nearby mobile-home park residents.

Lonnie described the technical constraints and recommended conditions the planning commission had attached, including: requiring a final plat to resolve the split-zone parcel; a sidewalk along Trail Creek Drive and the Highway 29 frontage to reduce pedestrian-vehicle conflicts; limiting commercial traffic to 210 feet deep on Trail Creek Drive to avoid a GDOT curb-cut requirement; and restricting commercial-rural uses until a public sewer extension is provided. Staff noted public utilities indicated sewer is not present but that an extension may be feasible, and Transportation/Public Works recommended a 50-foot separation between residential and commercial drives.

Jeff Carter (speaker 21), representing the engineering consultant team, told the commission that sanitary sewer plans have been submitted and approved (precon and fees remain outstanding) and that a traffic study found pedestrian-safety items to address but no major traffic obstacles to the proposal. Ownership representatives said the project is part of a broader effort that includes infrastructure work for adjacent mobile-home parks. Planning-commission recommendations and the technical conditions will be finalized prior to the Oct. 6 voting meeting.