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Monday, Dec. 14, 2009

Byron council might rezone land for industrial complex

WARNER ROBINS — Byron City Council is expected to discuss today whether to rezone 537 acres to allow for an industrial complex between Boy Scout and Chapman roads.

Forty acres of the property currently are zoned commercial, and the remainder is zoned residential. The Byron planning and zoning committee recommended approval for the industrial rezoning, said Bill McDaniel, Byron’s director of planning and zoning and public works.

“I was looking out for jobs for the area,” Willie Hamlin, a member of the planning and zoning committee, said of his vote in favor of rezoning. How many jobs the project would create currently is unknown.

No companies have committed yet to the complex, called the Roost Development, developer David Aldridge said. Once complete, the complex will consist of about 670 acres, with some commercial business, he said.

“We’re just getting all our verifications in place with zoning and the completion of the parkway,” said Aldridge, owner of Atlanta-based Peach Hill Properties Inc.

Access to the site of the proposed industrial complex will open up with the construction of the 1.2-mile Peach-Crawford Parkway, connecting Boy Scout and Chapman roads on the southern border of the site. Construction began last year in a partnership among the state of Georgia, the city of Byron and Peach Hill Properties. Byron has committed $850,000 in special purpose local option sales tax funds for the multi-lane parkway.

“We’re about 90 percent through with the road,” Aldridge said. “Weather permitting, it should be ready by the end of the year.”

The rezoning measure should pass City Council with little debate, Byron Mayor Larry Collins said.

“We see (the proposed industrial complex) as a valuable addition to the city of Byron,” he said. “I am not aware of any opposition whatsoever to it. ... We advocated on behalf of development in that area when we raised the SPLOST money for putting out the road and the bridge.”

To contact writer Jennifer Burk, call 256-9705.