HCPC tables Gateway Corridor Overlay ordinance

GAINESVILLE - If the Hall County Commission decides to approve a first reading of its Gateway Corridor Overlay Ordinance at their Thursday meeting, it will be over the head of the Hall County Planning Commission.

Monday night, the Planning Commission approved Kent Henderson's motion to table the ordinance by a vote of 3-2.

"We're going to ask for a slew of variances coming up," said Henderson. "Why put a document out there that we're going to create a bunch of variances and a bunch of wasted time at meetings that maybe a couple of weeks put off could maybe eliminate some of those."

The County Commission had planned to have a first reading in November and a second in December. As they have only one meeting per month due to holidays, they will have to overrule the Planning Commission or push back their deadline.

"Given the original schedule that we're on as presented by the County Commission as this got rolling, we are at a point where, in order to get to that first reading on Thursday, we need to have some sense of resolution here," said Interim Planning Director Randy Knighton. "The idea was to try to have this item heard and finalized by the County Commission by the end of the year."

Knighton suggested sending the ordinance forth with no recommendation for a vote on Thursday and providing feedback from the planning commission and staff during the revision stage before the second reading.

The Planning Commission members all agreed that gateway standards were needed, but they felt the ordinance was hastily put together, without regard to their need to review it or to conflicts with the upcoming Unified Development Code.

"I haven't had the opportunity to look at this as closely as I need to," said Chairman Jones Cottrell, who voted against tabling the item. "I know the UDC is in its formulating stages, and I know a lot of work has gone in by citizens' groups to pull that UDC into a document that makes sense for this particular county. Let me say also that I think this overlay is needed, but I have concern from the standpoint that we aren't looking at both documents at the same time and haven't had an opportunity to analyze the pros and cons to each."

Cottrell considered taking Knighton's suggested route, and then trying to bring together the groups behind the ordinance and the UDC to iron out conflicts before the second vote in December.

Ultimately, Frank Sosebee and Chris Braswell, both of whom said they had not the opportunity to completely read the document, supported Henderson's motion to table.


HARVEST ACTIVE ADULT COMMUNITIES

Hall County Planning Committee tabled a contentious rezoning request Monday night for a proposed adult retirement community which would combine 95 units of condos and townhomes on a 23.61 acre tract, that opponents said was too dense for their small neighborhood.

Applicant Active Adult Lanier I, LLC, a part of Harvest Active Adult Communities, LLC, had originally planned for the community, located off Dawsonville Hwy just outside Gainesville, to access Sportsman Club Road, but had shifted the access to Strickland Road after negative feedback from the community.

Neighbors filled the meeting room of Hall County Planning Commission saying the development would be too dense for either Strickland Road or Sportsman Club Road.

"This complex is going to be too big for the area to handle the amount of traffic that is going to come in and out of Strickland Road and Sportsman Club Road, and it seems to me that would be very unfair," said neighbor Robert Fitzpatrick.

Attorney Madeline Wirt, speaking on behalf of Harvest Communities said that, though planning staff concluded it was denser than current Comprehensive Plan expectations, their development fit into the future land use plans, and that denying the rezoning would be unconstitutional.

"Owners of property have a right, a constitutional right, to do with their property as they will, and zoning cannot interfere with that," she said.

Opponents said the higher density development, would bring in younger residents, flood the streets of the single-family residential zoned neighborhood, and hurt their quality of life.

Wirt said that Harvest Communities would accept an age-restriction to ensure that residents are over 55-years-old. They also promised to consider increased buffers and to pave and widen Strickland Road to ease the traffic burden. She said they would not bend on the number of units in the complex.

Upon prompting by the Planning Commission, Wirt requested that the item be tabled so that they could process the logistics of the changed proposal.