A 2003 zoning provision placed on the Market Hill Business Park along Dogwood Trail at Ga. Highway 74 in Tyrone was lifted Dec. 20 by the Tyrone Town Council after a public hearing.
The long-time O-I (office institutional) Conditional zoning was rezoned O-I by unanimous vote.
Approximately two-thirds of the lots in the business park have been developed.
Planning Director Phillip Troquet explained that the purpose of the hearing was to rezone all properties located within the Market Hill Business Park.
“Since this is simply the removal of a condition, the underlying zoning will remain the same, effectively keeping the existing development pattern of the Business Park the same,” Troquet said.
The reason for the town-initiated rezoning is taking place is to “remove a condition of zoning placed on the properties in February 2003, whereby traffic improvements were required in order to construct on all lots. All properties will continue to be zoned as O-I or C-1 where applicable and no conditions will be applied.”
“The Market Hill Business Park was originally zoned in 2003 with a traffic condition requiring a secondary access curb cut be constructed on Market Road to (the adjacent) Hwy. 74. Until this traffic improvement was implemented, a construction moratorium was also put in place on 15 of the 30 lots in the business park. Since the establishment of this zoning condition, the Business Owner’s Association has been raising funds for the construction of the curb cut,” Troquet said.
Troquet said later negotiations were had with Georgia Department of Transportation (DOT) to purchase access rights for a curb cut, but price feasibility became an issue.
Market Hill representatives at the Dec. 20 meeting said that, unlike in years past, DOT will not approve a curb cut at the location on Hwy. 74.
“The difficulties in negotiating a feasible option for the curb cut on Hwy. 74 resulted in the commissioning a professional traffic impact study of the development of the additional 15 lots on which the construction moratorium had applied,” said Troquet. “The traffic study showed no significant traffic impact and recommended no major traffic improvements to the business park. Given the traffic study’s results, council directed staff to make preparations for the removal of the zoning condition for an additional curb cut as well as the removal of the construction moratorium restriction.”
Six business owners from the business park spoke in favor of the rezoning while three residents of a neighboring subdivision were opposed. Those in opposition cited stormwater runoff, public safety and property value concerns.
