Opinions differed May 22 as Fayette County commissioners debated a request to amend the Estate Residential District (EST) to decrease the minimum square footage from 3,000 down to 2,500. In the end they voted 3-2 in favor of the proposal previously recommended by the Planning Commission.

The amendment request was made by Rod Wright of Peach State Land Development. Community Development Director Peter Frisina told commissioners that the EST-zoned parcel in south Fayette was the only one in the county with that designation.

The EST zoning district required a minimum lot size of 2.5 acres along with a structural minimum of 3,000 square feet. Frisina said Wright had requested at a March 20 Planning Commission workshop that the square footage be reduced to a minimum house size of 2,300 square feet for a one-story house and 2,500 square feet for a two-story house. The Planning Commission voted 4-1 to decrease the minimum to 2,500 square feet, Frisina said.

Commissioner Eric Maxwell, who made the motion, favored the reduction, saying that the square footage requirement has been on the books for several years, noting other zoning categories that do not require 3,000 square-foot minimums and noting that the 2.5-acre lot size would not be affected by the measure.

“We’re not changing the lot size,” Maxwell said. “The 2.5 acre lots will remain. We’re simply addressing the square footage so density is not an issue.”

Maxwell and commissioners Jack Smith and Peter Pfeifer voted in favor of the decrease while commissioners Herb Frady and Robert Horgan voted in opposition, suggesting that the move would benefit builders.

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