A proposed 248-lot development in Lula was tabled by the Hall County Planning Commission Monday night.
They tabled it due to concerns about a new zoning district called residential mixed or “R-X.”
The development is off of Ga. 365 and Cagle Road on roughly 102-acres of land.
District 3 Planning Commissioner Stan Hunt said he’s fine with the product, but wants more time to allow the developer to adhere to the new zoning’s requirements.
“You really didn’t give us a lot of time to review it [the site-plan] today, submitting it this morning,” Hunt said. “This being the very first R-X … I feel the need to adhere exactly to the code.”
Hunt mentioned that the on-street parking added to the plan Monday morning did not meet the zoning requirements for R-X.
“This is a new concept for us,” District 2 Planning Commissioner Chris Braswell said. “To ask for variances right out of the gate, I don’t think we’re comfortable with that yet."
The developer, Revive Land Group from Atlanta, requested three variances.
They wanted the R-X’s minimum square feet to be reduced from 8,000-square-feet to 4,000-square-feet, reduce the setback for the yards to 5-feet from 30-feet, and for the frontages to be off of alleys or private drives as opposed to a government-maintained road.
The purpose of the R-X zoning is intended for residential housing in areas off of major streets or highways. The recommended density is eight units-per-acre, with the current site-plan having 2.44 units-per-acre.
“We don't want to come and slam in something that an area is not ready for,” Revive’s Neville Allison said.
Allison said that he wanted the community to consist of attainable housing and not “another 600 or 500-thousand subdivision in Hall County.”
Allison added somewhere in the 350 to 365-thousand range was where the cottages would probably start at.
Staff recommended approval with 16 conditions which included limited the development to 193 single-family homes and 55 cottage homes. They also recommended two-car garages in addition to driveways that accommodate two cars and for the amenities to be built before 50-percent of the development is occupied.
Hunt said that he wanted the amenities to be built out by the time 30-percent of the development is occupied.
The planning commission tabled the development until the March 17 planning commission meeting.
