GAINESVILLE – So much can change in just a year along the busy Dawsonville Highway corridor in Gainesville.
Less than 12-months ago an international grocery store chain received a recommendation for approval to construct one of their outlets on nearly 7-acres where an assisted living residence had once stood; several months later that plan was canceled and now new plans are being announced for the site by another developer.
Applicant LLJ Development, LLC, is proposing to rezone the property for a fitness center, as well as for retail and restaurant use.
Two parcels of land are in the rezoning request that comes before the Gainesville Planning and Appeals Board August 14th: one is 4.594± acres and the second is 2.26± acres.
The larger tract is zoned Office and Institutional (O-I) and General Business (G-B) and contains a grassed lot that was previously developed for a nursing home. The smaller tract is already zoned General Business (G-B) and contains a detention pond.
The proposed fitness center building is 22,000± square feet in size and the retail/restaurant building is 6,800 square feet.
The anticipated hours of operation for the fitness center according to the applicant will be 5:00 a.m. to midnight.
In the request the applicant states access to the property will be from an existing driveway off the west bound lanes of Dawsonville Highway in the form of a “right in/right out” interchange, with a left turn possibility subject to GDOT approval.
The property is located within the Gateway Corridor Overlay Zone and the adjacent uses include the Northlake Square shopping center, the Jackson EMC office, various retail strip uses and single-family residential to the rear within the Lakeshore Heights subdivision.
Whether the GPAB recommends the application for approval or denial, that recommendation will be subject to final approval from the Gainesville City Council at a later date.
