A new plan is in the works for a 123-acre undeveloped site off Ga. Highway 74 south near Holly Grove Road.

While there would be a 21-acre area along the highway for commercial use, the new plan also includes a 26-acre site for a mix of duplexes, single family detached and assisted living residences as part of a development aimed at seniors, according to City Planner David Rast.

Because duplexes are proposed, the City Council must lift the city’s multi-family housing moratorium before staff can officially consider the development.

The senior housing project is proposed by Dominion Partners of Birmingham, Ala. The company has built other projects in Alpharetta and Mobile, Ala.

It was estimated by city staff that about 45 acres of the 123-acre site could be developed. The site will also be the new home of the realigned Rockaway Road, which will intersect with the current traffic light at Holly Grove. The road realignment will occur when the Georgia Department of Transportation widens Hwy. 74 to four lanes.

The previous proposal from Columbia Properties called for the entire site to be rezoned commercial for a 300,000 sq. ft. shopping center that included a proposed Lowe’s home improvement store. Residents from the nearby Wilshire Pavilion subdivision voiced strong opposition to the plan, worrying about increased traffic on Holly Grove Road and the potential for increased crime in the area.

Columbia withdrew its rezoning petition after city staff recommended to deny a commercial zoning for the rear portion of the property where the Lowe’s would have been located. The recommendation would have allowed commercial zoning on land that fronts along the highway.

Although the tract is zoned for industrial use, the city’s land use plan calls for the property to be developed with a medium-density residential project.

That plan also included a proposed land swap to relocate the city’s recycling center. Such a land swap is not proposed in the newest plan for the property, Rast said.

Mayor Harold Logsdon said he hoped this plan would be better received by its neighbors.

“I think its a very workable plan that I hope the Wilshire subdivision will like,” Mayor Harold Logsdon said at Tuesday night’s town hall meeting.

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