A request for

a commercial rezoning at the entrance to Wynnmeade subdivision off Ga.

Highway 54 is temporarily on hold.

The parcel

in question, 3.16 acres to the eastern side of Wynnmeade Parkway, is currently

zoned residential. But the property is undeveloped and Piedmont Properties

wants the entire site rezoned for commercial use.

When the city's

land use plan was updated in 1995, it indicated that this parcel could

be considered for "special limited commercial purposes that would

not detract from the nearby residential subdivision." That concept

included a 50-foot buffer from Wynnmeade Parkway and access to the parcel

via a frontage road. Such a road is now planned to extend off MacDuff

Parkway.

A public hearing

on the request was scheduled for Monday night's Planning Commission meeting.

But the applicant asked for it to be postponed to the commission's first

meeting in January.

Jim Williams,

the city's director of developmental services, recommended to the commission

in a memo that the rezoning be denied. But some issues could be resolved

if Wynnmeade residents can agree to a list of commercial uses that would

be mutually acceptable. If such a compromise could be reached, Piedmont

Properties could seek a limited use commercial rezoning instead of a general

commercial designation.

Williams also

indicated the parcel should not be connected to Hwy. 54 or Wynnmeade Parkway.

Piedmont Properties

is also developing the subdivision adjacent to the northern boundary of

Wynnmeade. When Piedmont officials began designing their plan, they approached

the city about trading land for a city park at the northern edge of Wynnmeade

so it could be developed as part of the new subdivision.

The land Piedmont

wants rezoned to commercial is part of that proposed trade transaction,

along with the parcel on the other side of Wynnmeade Parkway. But Marvin

Isenberg, president of Piedmont Properties, has told city officials that

he wants the land rezoned first before the trade goes through.

City Attorney

Rick Lindsey has indicated the city cannot trade land for zoning, according

to Williams's memo.

Williams also

contends that the portion of the property in question considered for the

swap with the city should retain its residential zoning.

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