Zoning board: West Bibb shopping center seems good idea. So why did it defer decision?
A proposed shopping center to be built in west Bibb County, with what the developer called a “high-end” grocery store, is on hold for now.
The shopping center with a 48,387-square-foot grocery store on Thomaston Road at its intersection with Tucker Road was deferred Monday by the Macon-Bibb County Planning & Zoning Commission. The site is about one-half mile from Interstate 475.
“It’s a very poplar, high-end grocer,” with a strong following in the United States, said Evan Conder, with JWA Ventures. He said he was under a strict non-disclosure agreement and not allowed to disclose the name yet.
However, Conder said “I can also tell you that they are the largest employee-owned business in the United States.”
Publix is the largest employee-owned company in the U.S., according to Forbes magazine and the National Center for Employee Ownership, which stated in a July list of top employers that the Florida-based grocery chain had 190,000 employees.
The shopping center site plan shows the grocery store would have a drive-thru pharmacy and delicatessen, according to a statement from the applicant, JWA Ventures LLC. The site plans also shows two adjacent buildings with about 9,000 square feet and 10,000 square feet each for smaller tenants as well as two out-parcels of about 1 acre each, space typically used for fast-food or casual restaurants.
The grocery store is expected to employ 120-150 people with more than 100 employed at the other businesses, Conder said.
“So the economic impact of this development is quite large,” he said.
While the zoning board didn’t have major issues with the project itself, it did have some concerns about truck access to the site. Plans for the shopping center show one access on Thomaston Road and two on Tucker Road. One of the access points on Tucker would be for delivery trucks to get to the rear of the buildings.
Chairman Kamal Azar questioned why truck access to and from the center wasn’t on Thomaston Road instead of being on Tucker Road.
Engineer Brian Kay of Marietta, representing the developer, said the Georgia Department of Transportation “specifically” said it could allow only one access on Thomaston Road. And that access had to be a right-in, right-out turn lane. Also, that entrance leads into the middle of the parking lot which would be a safety issue. The truck access on Tucker Road was located where it was because of discussions with the Macon-Bibb County engineering department, he said. Thomaston Road is a state highway and Tucker is a county highway.
Alan Thiese, who lives on Weatherby Drive and was the only one at the meeting who opposed the project, said it would only add to the congestion already on Tucker and Thomaston roads, especially because of several schools in the area.
Zoning Executive Director Jim Thomas said that the schools’ peak times and the grocery store’s peak times are not at the same time, so there wouldn’t be much conflict with school traffic.
“I like the project,” Azar said, adding he would like to see if there was a better solution for access. “I believe there is a need. It’s a good developer with a proven track record.”
The commission decided to defer the matter until the next meeting and asked its staff to try to meet with GDOT and the county engineer to discuss alternate access to the shopping center.
The applicant is a division of Jim Wilson & Associates based in Montgomery, Alabama, which developed The Shoppes at River Crossing on Riverside Drive in north Bibb County.
The 14-acre site is composed of nine contiguous parcels on Thomaston and Tucker roads and includes 5591, 5581, 5571 and 5561 Thomaston Road. A conditional-use permit is sought for eight of the parcels that are already zoned for commercial use. A rezoning application was filed for a lot at 2154 Tucker Road, to change the zoning from a single-family residential district to a commercial district. This parcel would contain a stormwater management pond, according to the site plan.
Other items on the agenda were:
323 Buford Place: Certificate of Appropriateness to allow design approval of exterior modifications, HR-1 District. Susan Long, James Bodell, applicant. Deferred.
1502 (1544) Rocky Creek Road: Conditional use to allow allied health training facility, C-4 District. The Phlebotomy Institute of Middle Ga., Elizabeth McLane, applicant. Approved.
5429 Bowman Road: Conditional use to allow a drive-thru ATM, PDE District. Synovous Financial Corp., Chase Carlisle, applicant. Approved.
4401 Hartley Bridge Road: Conditional use to allow new construction of an auto parts store and variance in signage requirements to allow a second freestanding sign, C-4 District. Auto Zone Inc., Carl Helton, applicant. Approved.
Old business:
883 Mulberry St.: Conditional use to allow multi-family apartments (4 units), HR-3 District. 883 Mulberry LLC, applicant. Approved.
1540 Bass Road: Conditional use to allow revision to a previously approved site plan, PDE District. Triple Point Engineering, Dan Wallace, applicant. Approved.
This story was originally published August 13, 2018 at 4:21 PM.