Wednesday, December 25, 2002
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Wednesday, December 25, 2002 |
Tyrone asks developers to come in with specific plansBy MICHAEL
BOYLAN
Though there were several different requests from developers at Thursday night's Tyrone Town Council meeting, the message that the council sent was that the developers needed to have a specific plan for what they were gong to do on their land before the council would make a decision. The first group up on Thursday was Creel Properties on behalf of the Hobgood estate. They were asking the council to rezone 56.209 acres at Ga. Highway 74 and Senoia Road from Agricultural/Residential to M-1 (Light Industrial). Rick Sewell, speaking on behalf of the Hobgood family, said that there was no intended use or user for the land at this time but that the county development authority needed the area to be zoned properly before they could start shopping it around. Ed Wyatt, also speaking on behalf of the Hobgood estate, said that there were no current residences around the land, though there are some residences being built there currently and the developer has said he had no problems with their piece of land being developed. Both Wyatt and Sewell claimed that there would be very little impact on the neighborhood and surrounding streets. Several citizens spoke in opposition of the rezoning, stating a concern for wetlands, the impact on the recreation complex which will be built near there and a concern that nobody knew what would be going there. In the end, the council agreed with the planning commission, which recommended denial, and the concerned citizens. Councilman Paul Letourneau recommended that the developers go back to the planning commission and try to come up with a site specific plan and the appropriate buffering by the adjacent residential area that will be there. Next up was Tyrone Self Storage, which was asking for several variance requests from the standards set forth in the Quality Control Growth District as well as the height and size requirement in the town's sign ordinance. Lynn Redwood of the Planning Commission stated that the developer was doing the process backwards and should have looked at the town's ordinances first before coming up with the plans. Among the variance requests Tyrone Self Storage were asking for were a reduction of the front setback from 200 feet to 100 feet, minimum lot size from 8 acres to 5.4, the exterior finish standards to allow stucco and a reduction of the impervious surface area from 50 percent to 64 percent. The council approved all of the requests except for the impervious surface request and the height and size requirements in the sign ordinance. Town Manager Barry Amos stated that the town had never approved a variance on the sign ordinance. Impervious surfaces are mainly constructed surfaces rooftops, sidewalks, roads, and parking lots covered by impenetrable materials such as asphalt, concrete, brick and stone. These materials seal surfaces, repel water and prevent precipitation and meltwater from infiltrating soils. The council told Tyrone Self Storage that the impervious surfaces would need to be dealt with before they came before the council again. The final person to come before the council was Steve McWilliams, a residential developer who had four lots at the intersection of Crabapple Lane and Senoia Road and the surrounding area was zoned M-1 and C-2. One of the lots is on the corner and would not be able to be sold as a house. He wanted to make it into something like a small office that looked like a house. Town Planner Maureen Gresham and the planning commission recommended C-2 zoning but after hearing his presentation, the town council felt OI, Office/Industrial, would be more appropriate. McWilliams doubted that he would ever develop the land in the first place and agreed with the council's decision to change the parcel of land to OI. The council approved this change and also changed the Land Use Map from 1.1 to 1.3 and 2.3, which would allow for a mall office space to be built there. The council then wished everybody a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
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