The city of Senoia took the initial step Tuesday night toward allowing a new kind of development in the town.

By a unanimous vote, the city's Planning Commission recommended two text amendments to the City Council that would allow developers to build homes on quarter-acre lots.

But in return, the developers would agree to leave at least 25 percent of the land in open space.

Newly appointed town planner Bill Johnston told a packed house of nearly 60 residents that open space development is another option for the city to try and manage the growth that is headed its way.

Under the proposed text amendments, developers would be able to build on half-acre lots under the R-40 zoning category and quarter-acre lots under R-20.

The benefit of clustering the homes on smaller lots is an increase in open space, Johnston said.

If the city wants to maintain the rural flavor, Johnston said open space development is one option. Another option would be the city purchasing land and reserving it as park space, but residents' tax bills would see a severe hike if that option were pursued.

The text amendments also call for at least a 60-foot buffer on arterial roads and a 20-foot buffer on major collector roads.

“This could help permanently preserve some of the city's assets,” he said.

But the residents were not so sure.

“Once we open up to this type of development, we're going to annihilate the city,” said resident Brian Utt.

Johnston also showed slides of other types of cluster developments, most noticeably in Peachtree City. But some residents were not impressed with their neighbors to the north.

“You have something really special here. Peachtree City has a lot of money to keep up the infrastructure. If you want cluster homes, go to Peachtree City,” said Bill Royal.

After listening to nearly 45 minutes of discussion, the commission voted to add the open space text amendments to the zoning ordinance. The commission then heard a request from developer Richard Harp, who wants to develop 59 homes on 26 acres on Rockaway Road and wants R-20 zoning.

Harp's proposal calls for the homes to be on 13 acres, with the rest of the property being preserved as green space.

“That's 50 percent open space, which is much more than the requirement,” he said.

Before the planning commission voted on Harp's request, Chairman Pam Youngblood said she had some of the same concerns as the angry residents.

“There's been lots of mistakes made in the past. We want it to be better and they're going to leave us the green space,” she said.

Harp's request for R-20 zoning passed the commission unanimously and will be discussed by the council for a possible vote March 28. The text amendments will be discussed March 6 at 7 p.m. at City Hall during the regular council meeting.

Back to News Home Page | Back to the top of the page