GAINESVILLE – Despite a recommendation for approval Monday evening from the Hall County Planning Commission, not all members of the commission are sure a rezoning application for a self-storage warehouse complex is the best use for 5.56-acres along Spout Springs Road.
Commission member Gina Pilcher says her career-experience as an architect makes her uncomfortable with plans for a six-building storage facility bordering Lollis Creek and the adjacent flood plain.
Pilcher said, “I don’t have a problem with what he (applicant Sam McGee) has presented as far as the way it looks. I am concerned about this site, though, just because of the flood plain being that close to it.”
“That’s an awful lot of rooftop and concrete,” Pilcher said about the expected storm water runoff created by 72,000-square feet of dry storage space, 17,000-square feet of boat and RV storage space and a 2000-square foot office building.
The original rezoning request submitted by McGee in December was for 34.28-acres but the application was tabled in February to reconsider whether or not the entire parcel could be considered eligible for Light Industrial (LI) zoning.
Hall County Planning Director Sarah McQuade told commissioners, “Initially the proposal encompassed the full…almost-35-acre tract and since then, after speaking with the Engineering Department and looking more in depth at the property, the applicant has revised his request.”
McQuade said the revised application for rezoning to Light Industrial would now be for only 5.56-acres, “…as the other portions (28.72-acres) are either in a stream buffer or flood zone and aren’t developable.”
Applicant McGee said, “We’ve been working on this for a while and I think we’ve had a good learning process…and we did scale down from the 34-acres down to the 5.56-acres.”
“And we’ve talked to the County Engineer and we have agreed to donate 2.5-acres on the front for the Phase 2 project of the Spout Springs widening project,” McGee stated.
Pilcher was the lone dissenting vote in the board’s recommendation for approval; she said that the land-development instincts she acquired during a career as an architect made her uncomfortable with the project. “While it’s a very upscale project I’m just not 100-percent sure this is the best place for that,” she said.
After the meeting Pilcher said McGee’s project combined with the widening of Spout Springs Road could create siltation and storm water runoff challenges for Lollis Creek. “With that amount of flood plain right there, and that amount of grading and hard surface…it could potentially be an issue,” she said.
The application now goes to the Hall County Commission for its consideration on April 8th.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2021/3/983623/flood-plain-concerns-challenge-rezoning-request-headed-to-hall-county-commission