The Fayette County Board of Commissioners dealt with two rezoning requests at its Dec. 11 meeting with no public comment, not even from the applicants.
A petition from Davis, LLC and agent Rick Halbert for rezoning of 63.89 acres on Davis Road was unanimously approved. The property had previously been split into A-R and R-40 sections, and the new zoning will place the entire tract under the R-40 designation.
County planning and zoning director Pete Frisina called the item a “housekeeping rezoning,” saying that the entire property must be under one zoning district before the developer can plat it and build homes there. The request is for a single-family residential subdivision.
County staff and the Planning Commission previously recommended approval of the request with one condition, according to supporting documents:
“The owner/developer shall provide, at no cost to Fayette County, a quit-claim deed for 40 feet of right-of-way as measured from the centerline of Davis Road prior to the approval of the Minor Subdivision Plat and said dedication area shall be shown on the Minor Subdivision Plat.”
It was further stated that this condition is to ensure the provision of adequate right-of-way for future road improvements.
The property is bound on the north and west by a 235-acre tract that is the undeveloped portion of Waterlace subdivision.
To the south across Davis Road is undeveloped land, and to east is some undeveloped land as well as a greenspace area for Stonebriar West subdivision that is in the city of Fayetteville.
No one was present at the commission meeting on behalf of the applicant, and no one in the audience spoke for or against the request.
Another rezoning matter heard by the board was Sohel Dhanani’s request to withdraw an application concerning 34.277 acres on Westbridge Road from A-R to R-40 for a 19-lot residential subdivision.
Frisina reiterated at the meeting Dhanani’s motive for withdrawing the request, which was that the applicant was having some problems getting his entrance road to fit within county specifications and was trying to acquire additional property to make it work.
Dhanani submitted a letter Sept. 2 to the Planning Commission requesting withdrawal, stating that he would reschedule a rezoning request “once the issues have been corrected.” The request had been tabled for 60 days before the Planning Commission voted to approve the withdrawal.
The Board of Commissioners did the same with a unanimous vote.
In other business, the board approved several consent agenda items unanimously with no discussion or public input:
• A recommendation by Chairman Steve Brown to declare Dec. 26 an additional paid holiday for county employees. This means county offices will be closed Dec. 24-26. This mirrors Peachtree City, which is also giving city workers an extra paid holiday leading into the weekend.
• A staff recommendation to enter into a $3,500 contract with the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government to conduct a classification and compensation study of the IT department and up to six positions. The study will begin Jan. 21, with a cost estimate submitted for review in May and a final report in June of 2015.
• Awarding a $159,540 contract to New South Construction Company to serve as general contractor for the renovation of the old jail. Built in 1985 and unused for the past 14 years, the old jail is now needed due to an increased jail population, according to county officials.
• Two intergovernmental agreements with Clayton County to perform maintenance and repairs on the McDonough Road bridge and Helmer Road bridge, both on the county line, at an aggregate cost of $173,558.55. The county’s contingency funds will provide $11,305.55 of those funds.
