New Macon subdivision developer gets OK to move forward with plans
No one came to Monday’s zoning meeting to oppose what apparently will be the first single-family development to be built in Bibb County since the Great Recession ended nearly a decade ago.
The Macon-Bibb County Planning & Zoning Commission approved a conditional-use application that would allow Macon-based Three Oaks Construction and Development Inc. to build 33 homes at 5064 and 5075 Rivoli Drive. The properties total 11.5 acres, and the proposed building lots range from .19 acre to .42 acre.
The property is in a planned development residential district. In February 2007, prior to the recession, the parcel at 5075 Rivoli Drive was rezoned to allow a single-family attached cluster subdivision with 44 lots. But the project fell apart, and the property was foreclosed on by a bank. The recession ran from December 2007 until June 2009, according to the U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research.
There were a couple of subdivisions that began development toward the end of the recession that “never got completed, and some of those started coming back online during the past three years,” zoning Executive Director Jim Thomas said. It’s been “almost 10 years” since an entire new subdivision has been developed in Bibb County.
The homes will be similar in size and style to the ones built during the last phase of the Abington subdivision directly across Rivoli Drive from the proposed development.
Plans for retail store delayed
In another matter, the commission deferred an application to rezone 4397 Jeffersonville Road from a single-family residential district to a neighborhood commercial district to allow for a retail development.
Dollar General plans to build a 9,100-square-foot store on the 2.1-acre site, along with 39 parking spaces. The site also will have a detention pond.
The property is surrounded by “low density residential uses and wooded properties” zoned residential and commercial, according to the commission’s staff report.
The site “lends itself as a logical location for a new retail development,” the report said.
Executive Director Jim Thomas said the commission deferred the matter because it wanted the staff to study the applicant’s plans in more detail.
Garden school owner gains support
Several supporters of a garden school planned in a Macon subdivision showed up at Monday’s meeting along with the school’s organizer.
Brittany Meir y Teran, filed a conditional-use application to use her home at 697 Springdale Woods Drive to operate the school.
The matter was deferred from the Sept. 10 meeting, so the applicant “could address concerns expressed by the neighborhood and the commission about potential traffic and parking impacts,” the staff report said.
After listening to about 10 supporters of the school, three who opposed it and discussing the matter, the commission approved the school.
The garden school would feature “a secluded and sustainable green space where children and their parents can learn, explore and enjoy the outdoors without distractions,” it said.
Classes would consist of eight to 10 students, twice a day, three-to-five times a week. The target age range are toddlers and their caregivers as well as children 6-12 years old. Off-street parking for eight vehicles would be provided, the report said.
Other items on the agenda were:
201 Spring St.: Certificate of Appropriateness to allow design approval of tree removal, HR-3 District. Edward Morrow, M&K Tree Service, LLC, applicant. Approved.
577 Third St.: Certificate of Appropriateness to allow design approval of signage, CBD-1 District. Burt & Burt, Jim Burt, applicant. Approved.
945 Maynard St.: Conditional Use to allow multifamily cluster housing, (tiny houses), PDR District. Georgia Behavioral Health Services, Cass Hatcher, applicant. Approved.
1071 Oglethorpe St.: Certificate of Appropriateness to allow design approval of new single-family dwelling, HPD-BH District. Charles Mishew & Dialo Cartwright, applicant. Approved.
1289 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.: Conditional Use to allow auto repair/body repair, C-2 District. OLATUNII, Raji & Betty Schreimeister, applicant. Approved.
4437 Columbus Road: Violation of Section 27.08 of the Comprehensive Land Development Resolution — creating a truck stop/repair and sales, PDC District. Yong Kim, applicant. Found in violation and referred to court.
6790 Houston Road: Conditional Use to allow platting prior to site plan approval, PDC District. South Bibb Capital Holdings, Jeff Royal, applicant. Approved.
The proposed shopping center on Thomaston Road at Tucker Road was scheduled for Monday’s meeting, but it was deferred by the staff.