A residential request on 120 acres along Greentop Road in north Coweta County to be rezoned from rural conservation to single-family infill-medium density (RI-B) was turned down on a 5-0 vote at the June 3 meeting of the Coweta County Commission.
A public hearing on the request was heard at the May 20 meeting and was continued until the June 3 meeting at the request of property owner Jim Mottola.
The June 3 meeting included only a brief overview of the proposal since the full review had been presented in May. Aside from a number of speakers during public comments, commissioners without discussion voted 5-0 to deny the rezoning request.
Mottola after the meeting said he was “carefully considering the next step.”
As in the May 20 meeting, a number of area residents spoke in opposition to the request, citing reasons such as increased traffic and congestion, the need for a lower density than what was being proposed, decreased property values, increased crime and drug addiction, overcrowded schools and the interruption of public safety services.
Project representative Dennis Drewyer during the May 20 hearing said the ordinance requires 50 percent of the lots to abut greenspace while the proposal calls for 90 percent. Drewyer added that plans exceed the 35 percent required greenspace while secondary greenspace is shown at 60 percent rather than the required 20 percent.
Commenting on property values, Drewyer on June 3 said the average assessed value of a nearby subdivision showed homes valued at $147,000 while the homes in the proposed subdivision would average $215,000. If approved, said Drewyer, the new homes would keep to a minimum of 2,000 square feet.
The property is adjacent to the city of Newnan on the south side, with Drewyer saying the development would be served by Newnan Utilities.
Drewyer said that due to issues such as buffers, open space, setbacks and parks the subdivision would be kept to 210 homes rather than 226 lots originally proposed and the nearly 300 homes that would have been allowed under the zoning category.
The current proposal showed only one point of ingress and egress.
One of the 12 conditions that accompanied the recommended approval by the planning and zoning department dealt with ingress and egress points since a minimum of two are required under the ordinance. Until such time as the “future connectivity” is approved by (county) transportation and engineering and installed, the development shall be limited to 49 dwelling permits, the recommendation said.
Drewyer agreed to that condition, adding that the developer had plans for a second entrance to the subdivision.
County planning director Robert Tolleson in the planning review said that “although the subject property is not included in the area designated for medium density development character, other policies guiding development decision-making support medium density in this location. The Comprehensive Land Use Plan 2006-2026 supports development at medium density at the edges of existing villages, towns and cities to foster a compact development pattern. The compact development pattern supports efficient maintenance and operation of public sewer facilities as well as other public facilities. The subject property has access to a street with adequate capacity, public water and is adjacent to the city limits of Newnan. City of Newnan sewer service is feasible.”
It was noted during the meeting that the RI-B zoning category incorporated into the zoning ordinance in 2007 had only seen one project request. That request was for a project in Sharpsburg which was also denied by commissioners.
