Planning commission rezones 1,500+ acres
Property changed to residential from agriculture

By Michael Moore
The Pickens County Planning Commission approved rezoning requests for six property owners at their regular monthly meeting Monday.
Three of the property owners, seeking to re-designate their land as residential, were met with vast opposition from a standing-room-only crowd of residents who live on surrounding properties.
Despite the public protest, the three developers, who together own more than 1,500 acres, won the commission's recommendation to rezone the properties to rural residential (RR), and in one case to suburban residential private community (SRPC).
After the commissioner signs the changes in classification, the owners are expected to proceed with plans to develop new residential communities.
The commission voted five to two to grant a rezoning request to Dale Turner of Big Sky Land and Cattle, LLC. The property was re-classified from agricultural (AG) to RR, with conditions: the developer must conduct an impact study for water and sewer services; a traffic study; a fire department study; improvement of Loblolly Lane, one of the roads to be affected by the development; and a limitation on the number of driveways or access points to be constructed on Jerusalem Church Road and Henderson Mountain Road.
Commission members Jim Garner and Steve Brock voted against the rezoning.
That request was on the agenda for the second month in a row, as the commission cast a tie vote on the case in their June meeting. The last two of the listed conditions for rezoning were added by planning office staff since the previous meeting.
At Commissioner Robert Jones' request, Turner showed up at the latest hearing with more information and revised plans for his 607 acres in the area of Jerusalem Church Road and Henderson Mountain Road. Chairman Johnny Garrison, who voted against the request last month, changed his vote on Monday.
Over a dozen residents of the surrounding West-End area in question were present at the meeting, as they were at last month's hearing.
The commission allowed individual members of the public to state their concerns, and nine people did so. They presented a long list of complaints pertaining to the expected impact on the environment, schools, public safety and services, water supplies, storm water runoff, property taxes, and increased traffic.
Turner scaled down his plans since last month, reducing the proposed number of lots from 213 to 202, with an average lot size of exactly three acres. He added he is negotiating with Amicalola EMC to use some of the property to build a power substation to ensure enough capacity for the area.
He also noted his plans include covenants and restrictions, such as a minimum of 2,000 square foot housing, black fencing when needed, an architectural committee, and requiring a minimum of three acres for owners who plan to have horses.
Turner also voluntarily commissioned a traffic study of the proposal, which he presented at the commission's meeting and showed no significant anticipated effect. He also suggested donating land to the county for a new fire station in the area.
The property has been previously used as timber land.
In general discussion, county planning director Norman Pope said the proposed development is "unusual" because of the large amount of property on county-maintained roads. Turner said the property has over four miles of road frontage, and the county wants to limit the number of access points so traffic and road maintenance will be controllable.
After casting a motion to approve the zoning change, commission member Ryan Keeter said, "I think this lays out to benefit the county in the long run."
He told the crowd that even though the property will be rezoned, Turner still has to meet all state and county development standards and ordinances, which may result in further revisions to his plans.
Approved unanimously was rezoning of 322 acres owned by Tim Roland and Ronnie Mills on Matthews Road, also on the west end of the county. Plans indicate a proposed 90-lot gated subdivision with one main entrance, an equestrian theme, and a riding trail surrounding the perimeter.
Conditions attached to the approval are conducting a traffic study, a planned secondary access point, and a limit of 90 lots. It will be rezoned from AG to RR.
Mills told the commission he plans to build houses in the $500,000 to one million dollar price range.



 Five property owners in the area spoke in opposition of the rezoning, mostly to claim the road which is already in bad shape will not be able to handle the new development. Roland told the commission that if the road is in need of repairs, he and Mills will pay the costs.
The commission approved, on a six to one vote with Garner opposed, the rezoning of 683 acres in Talking Rock, on Highway 136. The property is now zoned RR and AG, but will change to SRPC. Conditions for rezoning are the conducting of a development regional impact study, traffic impact study, and an environmental impact study. Also, the commission will require the developer to provide private security and fire protection within the gated community. Pope told the commission the SRPC zone is for properties known as "planned communities," such as Bent Tree, Big Canoe and the Preserve at Sharp Mountain.
Atlanta developer B. Wilmont Williams owns the property, and plans to build a golf course and a gated residential community. It will be called Talking Rock Golf Club, and will contain 576 housing units in the form of "cluster homes" and one to two acre "estate home sites for custom homes," according to plans presented Monday.
Nine surrounding property owners protested the rezoning at the meeting. A main concern is the extra traffic on Highway 136, which is already a dangerous and busy road.
The target market for Talking Rock Golf Club is the "aging baby boomer population," according to plans.
Pope noted Talking Rock Creek, which runs through the property, is on the federal 303D list of endangered streams as it has been found to contain E. coli bacteria. Thus Williams will have to be sensitive to environmental concerns. And he may not be able to obtain a withdrawal permit to draw the community's drinking water from the creek as his staff proposed at the meeting.
The development will include an on-site sewage treatment facility, the effluent of which will be used to water the golf course. Golf course architect Mike Young said the golf course will incorporate natural vegetation and will be easily "integrated" into the surroundings, a suggestion which one audience member called "laughable."
Young assured the commission that the development will utilize strict management practices in the use of pesticides, fertilizers, maintenance and irrigation. Three smaller pieces of property also received the commission's approval for rezoning.
Ray Brendel's 45 acres on Childers Lane will be rezoned from RR to AG. Brendel plans to build chicken houses on the property.
Three acres owned by Ashley Young on Kelley Lane, a private road, will be rezoned from AG to RR. Young plans to build a residence on the property for her father. The commission voted 6-1 in favor of the rezoning, with Harold Hensley opposed.
Finally, 33 acres owned by Naterra Land, Inc., developers of the Preserve at Sharp Mountain, will be rezoned from AG to SRPC. The property near Pettit Road is adjacent to Preserve property which is already zoned SRPC.
The developer plans to establish another 12 lots for the Preserve on the property.
A single condition for the rezoning is that the developer must deed five feet of road right-of-way along the land to the county. Pope said the county does not own enough right-of-way to pave the road, which they may do in the future if they can acquire five feet on the other side.
The commission voted six to one to allow the rezoning, with Steve Brock opposed. Before voting, Brock indicated he felt the county should not have to fund future paving on the gravel road, just for a single development.
In other planning commission news:
* The commission voted unanimously to give tentative approval for a cell tower permit on Parker Road. The case was first presented at last month's meeting, when the commission asked the applicant to conduct a balloon test to determine the tower's expected visibility, which they did at the end of June.
A public hearing will be held at the next planning commission meeting to gather more input on the proposal. The commission will give a final vote on the tower immediately following the public hearing.
* Finally, the commission voted to conduct a work session to be followed by a public hearing on the proposed draft of an on-site sewage system ordinance. The work session is scheduled for July 31 at 5 p.m., with the hearing to follow at 6 p.m.
* The planning commission meets the second Monday of every month at 6 p.m., in the annex courtroom.