GAINESVILLE - A proposed subdivision and shopping center along Friendship Road that earlier became mired in county code changes during the application process is now ready for a final decision by the Hall County Commission.
In early July, WE Flip, LLC, decided to table its rezoning request when changes in zoning codes adopted by Hall County left certain parts of its 132-lot subdivision plan in an ambiguous state. Developers decided their best practice would be to return to the drawing board and eliminate any confusion.
At that July 1 meeting of the Hall County Planning Commission, Hall County Planning Manager Sarah McQuade said, “The new PRD (Planned Residential Development) codes set some minimum standards…including amounts of open space, minimum lot sizes and maximum density standards. So they (applicant W.E. Flip, LLC) were in that in-between, where they had designed it based upon the old code, and that’s why they had so many variances requested, because when they submitted it the new code had been passed.”
Also at that July meeting, members of the Planning Commission requested inclusion of a traffic impact study and formal comments from the Hall County School District regarding impact on area schools.
With those items now part of WE Flip’s amended application the Planning Commission recommended rezoning approval unanimously at its August 19 meeting. Some of the notable changes in the revised plan for the development include the following:
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The number of lots is decreased from 132 to 116
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The open space in the development increases from 36.6% to 43%
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All lots will be a minimum 8,000 square feet
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Access onto and from Ridge Road and Friendship Roads has been adjusted
(To read more about the revised design plan click here, then select the “Memo” attachment.)
“This item is our first development under the new Planned Residential Development (PRD) Code,” McQuade told county commissioners at their work session Monday afternoon.
“Part of the reason they did decide to table was because there had been some public comment during the (July 1) Planning Commission meeting, in opposition to it,” McQuade said. She added that the developer has since held a meeting with area residents in an effort to address their concerns.
No one spoke in opposition to the amended application at the work session, and commissioners agreed to decide the issue at their voting session on Thursday, beginning at 6:00 p.m. in the Hall County Government Center. The public is invited to attend.
