Macon rental car company receives OK from zoning board for new site

Enterprise Auto Rental in Macon needs more space to park its rental cars and more space for customers to park, and that’s why it needs to move.

Enterprise filed a conditional-use application with the Macon-Bibb County Planning & Zoning Commission to build a new structure at 2480 Riverside Drive. Currently the business is located about a mile away at 2135 Riverside Drive.

The commission unanimously approved the application during its meeting Monday.

Enterprise representative Jim Davis said the company considered moving to an existing building, but couldn’t find a suitable one in the area with enough parking space.

“If you have ever tried to rent a car from them you can’t park and they can’t park their cars,” Davis said. “They have outgrown that location.”

Enterprise plans to construct a new 2,500-square-foot building on 3.23 acres, and the building would sit in the middle of the front 1.25 acres of the parcel. The rear portion of the site would remain an undisturbed wooded area.

The proposed parking lot will have 129 spaces and about 50-60 cars will be available on site to rent.

The building’s exterior would consist of stone and brick veneer, and it would have two garage doors to provide access to a car-washing facility. No vehicle maintenance would be performed on the site, the report said.

Davis said he was unaware until the P&Z meeting that part of the property may be in a flood zone and that he would look into where the zone begins and ends before moving forward.

Commissioner Jeane Easom said a former building on the property was flooded during Macon’s flood of 1994.

Enterprise is expecting to employ six full-time and three part-time workers, according to information provided by the company. The business would be open 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to noon Saturday. It would be closed Sunday.

Other items on the agenda were:

CONDITIONAL USES:

7069 Chant Road: Conditional use to allow a manufactured home in a previously approved manufactured home location, A-Agricultural District. Joycine Pitts, applicant. Approved.

1501 Bass Road: Conditional use to allow a real estate school, PDE District. Middle Georgia Academy of Real Estate, LLC, applicant. Approved.

CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS:

543 Poplar St.: Certificate of Appropriateness to allow design approval of a fence, CBD-1 District. Larry Ballard Jr., applicant. Approved.

VARIANCES:

543 Poplar St.: Variance to allow reduction in setback requirements to allow a fence, CBD-1 District. Larry Ballard Jr., applicant. Approved.

140 Beaver Ridge Circle: Variance to allow an accessory to be located between a dwelling and right of way, R-1AAA District. Mike & Lori Jordan, applicant. Approved.

RATIFICATION:

946 Womack St. (aka 531 Mitchell St.): Variance in setback requirements to allow a multipurpose room addition, R-2 District (16-21060). Jackson Temple Church, applicant. Approved.

946 Womack St. (aka 531 Mitchell St.): Conditional use to allow a building addition to an existing church, R-2 District (16-21061). Jackson Temple Church, applicant. Approved.

3516 West Point Circle: Variance in height requirements to allow location of a fence, A-Agricultural District (16-21104 & 16-21105). John Malloy, applicant. Approved.

This story was originally published September 12, 2016 at 3:10 PM with the headline "Macon rental car company receives OK from zoning board for new site."