Wednesday, January 31, 2001
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Wednesday, January 31, 2001 |
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Firm seeks OK for new cemetery By DAVE
HAMRICK
Fayette County needs a new cemetery and mausoleum, says John Kent of Flint River Resources Inc. And the Atlanta-based company is taking steps to establish one on Helmer Road, off Ga. Highway 279 in north Fayette. "We find that the service in this area is mostly provided by churches, and those have become difficult to obtain and limited in number," said Kent. "We want to provide a service to the community." A request for a zoning change to allow the cemetery is on the county Planning Commission's agenda for Thursday. The company is asking for a change from R-40, which allows subdivisions with minimum one-acre lots, to A-R, which allows subdivisions with minimum five-acre lots, for 24.3 acres. Cemeteries are a conditional use under the A-R category. "There's a nice little pond on the property, which we will leave, and we want to put in a memorial type cemetery, with bronze plaques mounted on granite backers," said Kent. A small office would be built, but no large statuary, he said. Kent and two other owners of the company have a combined 60 years of experience in the business, and plan to operate and maintain the cemetery, he added. Maintenance, which will consist mainly of keeping the grass cut, will be done during business hours, Kent said, and funerals also are mainly conducted during daylight hours and rarely on Sundays. "It'll be very quiet, and we'll be very good neighbors," he said. The county planning staff is recommending approval of the rezoning. The land use plan calls for office development in the area. Staff is recommending denial, though, of Dean Fryer's request to rezone one acre of a two-acre building lot on Sumner Road near Ga. Highway 54 from R-40 to O-I (office-institutional) for professional, medical and law offices. Fryer also is requesting that the plat for Madelyn Place subdivision be revised to divide the lot into two one-acre lots: one for the offices and one for a home. The lot has no frontage on Hwy. 54, according to zoning director Kathy Zeitler, and that's a requirement for the county's special rules allowing office developments along the highway. The neighborhood was platted just a year ago, she said. The Planning Commission meets at 7 p.m. tomorrow at the County Administrative Complex. Its recommendations on the rezoning requests will be passed on to the County Commission for a final decision Feb. 22.
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