It was a matter of a change in zoning to accommodate a change of usage. The Coweta County Commission Jan. 18 unanimously approved a request by Delta Healthcare Management Corp. to rezone 3.62 acres on Macedonia Road to Office-Institutional (O-I) for use as a home healthcare office. The property had been zoned Rural Conservation (RC) when approved in 2005 for a daycare center.
The property located at Ga. Highway 70 and Macedonia Road includes a 5,513 square-foot building constructed in 2005 to be occupied by Heavenly Laughter Daycare, county Zoning Administrator Angela White told commissioners. The property later obtained a Conditional Use Permit for use as a home for teenage girls, though that business never opened and the building remained vacant, said White.
White told commissioners Delta Healthcare said the building would be used as an office and that patient care would only be provided at individual homes or at licensed healthcare facilities. Concerning the building’s interior, White said that some changes would be required to transition the facility from a daycare setting to an office setting.
Realtor Mitt Conerly, who also represents property owner Peoples Community and National Bank, told the board his client was fortunate to find a buyer for the property. Conerly added that the adjacent Macedonia Baptist Church had expressed no opposition to the proposed use of the facility by Delta Healthcare.
Commissioners gave unanimous approval to the request with four conditions recommended by the county’s Planning and Zoning Department. Those included the use of the property as an office only, meeting the requirements of the Coweta County Fire Marshal, holding seven new parking spaces in reserve unless or until needed and ensuring that lighting on the property would not adversely affect neighboring properties and streets.
Commissioners at the meeting also granted a buffer waiver for the property. Delta Healthcare had requested that the 50-foot buffer requirement be waived for the north side of the property because the adjacent property, the site of Macedonia Baptist Church, is also an institutional type facility that had received a conditional use permit. White said Macedonia Baptist had not expressed any opposition to the buffer waiver request.
The Coweta County Board of Zoning Appeals at its Jan. 4 meeting recommended approval of the buffer waiver request.
