The Tyrone Planning Commission has approved the landscape plan for the Waffle House site off Carriage Oaks near Ga. Highway 74.

Commission Chairman Ginger Blackstone initially said she was disappointed that evergreen trees weren’t included in the plan. She reasoned that when the trees lost their leaves in the fall, they would be “naked” and allow more of the building to be seen from the road.

But Town Manager Barry Amos said the specific trees used on the company’s landscape plan were meant to match the other commercial development along the road, and if evergreen trees were added to the mix it would skew the aesthetics of the area.

“The idea was to have a totally planned project so it didn’t look hodgepodge,” Amos said.

Amos noted that the landscape plan meets the requirements of the master plan the commission approved for the area.

Blackstone later relented, saying that Amos “may have a point” about making the plant material similar on both sides of the road.

The landscape plan includes 19 trees despite the relative small size of the site, noted a Waffle House corporate representative. The building itself is supposed to be rather unique by Waffle House standards, officials said.

In other business, the commission agreed to recommend a variance for a parcel on Powers Court, allowing the setback to be reduced from 80 feet to 50 feet.

Amos noted that Powers Court currently dead-ends but there is still a chance that it could be extended across the railroad spur for the rock quarry in the future so it would link up with Jenkins Road and the Sandy Creek school complex. He stressed that any extension of the road is not definite but it has been recognized as an important issue by the town mayor and council.

The developer, who is planning an auto service facility, had originally requested shrinking the variance to 30 feet, but doing so wouldn’t allow for substantial buffering should the road be extended, Amos noted.

The commission also approved the site plan for the development, contingent upon getting council approval for the variance.

The commission also approved a landscape plan for the Royal Learners Day Care, which will be in the Market Hill complex off Dogwood Trail. The developer agreed to add another row of trees along the play area in an effort to create a sound buffer for the adjacent residence; the company will also extend an uncompleted fence all the way to the road’s right-of-way.