Developer

Joel Cowan got the green light for a 169-home subdivision

last week by the Tyrone Planning Commission and now faces

one last hurdle.

vote, the commission approved Cowan's Lake Windsong

subdivision in the northern part of town with a caveat

that Dogwood Trail be paved.

The issue

will now be sent to the City Council sometime around the

first of the year, said town manager Barry Amos.

Cowan owns

282 acres and requested nearly 200 of the acres rezoned

from R-70 and AR, which calls for two- and three-acre

lots, to R-48, which allows one-acre lots. The remaining

80 acres are already zoned R-48.

During last

week's Planning Commission meeting, Cowan told town

officials that he would be willing to donate up to

$100,000 to help pay for the paving of Dogwood Trail and

provide another access to the subdivision.

Cowan's

father, Joel, was one of the original developers of

Peachtree City and is the current head of the powerful

new Georgia Regional Transportation Authority. The

younger Cowan wants to create an upscale subdivision that

features homes priced in the mid-$200's to $300,000,

built around an existing lake.

The

subdivision would feature such amenities as a clubhouse,

tennis courts, a pool overlooking the lake and possible

high-speed Internet connection.

Many of the

residents at previous meetings were outraged that the

only paved entrance into the subdivision would be down

Ashland Trail, but Cowan met with several neighborhood

groups over the last two months to help answer their

concerns.

Cowan's

attorney, George Rosensweig, told the commission that

Cowan had met with the residents of Ashland Trail and

offered to sell a couple of lots to the property owners

to alleviate their concerns.

Planning

commissioners Lyn Redwood and Burt Clark liked Cowan's

vision for the subdivision, but said they could only

recommend it be approved if Dogwood Trail is paved.

Amos said

there is currently no money in the city's budget to pave

the road and he estimated the cost of the project between

$250,000 and $300,000.

The

commissioners recommended approval of the subdivision

with the caveat that Dogwood Trail would have to be

paved.

The

proposed subdivision is virtually two subdivisions,

because the lake cuts the property nearly in half. The

entrance to the subdivision on the southern side of the

lake would be from either Crestwood Road or Dogwood

Trail, which are currently unpaved.

The Town

Council is expected to discuss the issue after Jan. 1.