Plan for proposed shopping center on Thomaston Road delayed for a second time
Plans for the first new shopping center to be built in west Bibb County in several years is on hold.
A proposed shopping center with a 48,387-square-foot grocery store, on Thomaston Road at its intersection with Tucker Road was deferred Monday at the Macon-Bibb Planning & Zoning Commission meeting. The site is about one-half mile from Interstate 475. The store is apparently a Publix based on information from the applicant at the Aug. 13 hearing.
It was deferred at the time, so the applicant and staff could meet with the Georgia Department of Transportation to discuss the entrance to the center from Thomaston Road.
The shopping center site plan shows the grocery store would have a drive-thru pharmacy and a delicatessen, according to a statement from the applicant, JWA Ventures LLC. The site plans also show two adjacent buildings with 9,000-10,000 square feet each for smaller tenants and two outparcels of about 1 acre each, typically for fast-food or casual restaurants.
The applicant is a division of Jim Wilson & Associates based in Montgomery, Alabama, which developed The Shoppes at River Crossing off Riverside Drive in north Bibb County.
The developer asked the zoning office to defer the applications for a second time Monday “because they have more homework to do,” said zoning Executive Director Jim Thomas.
Some issues came up at the earlier meeting about truck access, and the developer is trying to answer those questions, he said.
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 has been filed for one parcel, 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.
The original plans for the shopping center show one entrance/exit on Thomaston Road and two on Tucker Road.
The new project is listed in marketing materials on Jim Wilson & Associates’ website, and it shows a projected opening date of “Spring 2020.”
The applications may come back to the commission at the next meeting or the one after that, Thomas said.
Plan for tiny houses is approved
In another matter, the commission approved a rezoning application by Georgia Behavioral Health Services Inc. to rezone 945 Maynard St. and 958 Schaffer Place from a two-family residential district to a planned development residential district to develop five tiny houses to provide permanent housing for homeless individuals with disabilities.
The new single-family one-bedroom, one-bath houses would be about 440 square feet each and sit on a .41-acre lot. Eight parking spaces would be provided.
Typically a tiny house is considered one with square footage between 400 and 1,000 square feet, according to thetinylife.com.
The one-story homes would be for one person each, said Cass Hatcher with Georgia Behavorial.
“These are going to be nice, cute tiny houses,” Hatcher said.
Residents would be visited twice a month by a case worker who would not only check on the residents but also determine if the property was being kept up properly, he said.
The applicant recently combined the two properties into one parcel and demolished blighted structures, according to the commission’s staff report. The property is located in the Economic and Community Development target area of east Macon. The site is surrounded by two-family residential districts.
Within a ECD target area, the zoning office may reduce the minimum standards required for the development of residential land uses, the staff report said.
Other items on the agenda were:
382 Cherry St.: Conditional use to allow Ampersand Guild art studio and event center, CBD-1District. Ampersand Guild, applicant. Approved.
623 Arlington Place: Certificate of Appropriateness to allow design approval of tree removal, HR-3 District. Samuel Hart Sr., applicant. Approved.
5590 Thomaston Road: Variance in billboard sign distance requirements, C-4 District. Rosson Sign Co., Scott Bombard, applicant. Denied.
7738 Lower Thomaston Road: Variance to allow three lots not fronting a public right-of-way, R-1AAA District. William Ferro, applicant. Approved.
8294 Eisenhower Pkwy.: Variance to allow fence within 10 feet of public right-of-way setback, C-2 District. Public Service Telephone Co., applicant. Approved.
This story was originally published August 27, 2018 at 2:04 PM.