Zebulon Road residents ask court to reverse rezoning decision in north Bibb County

For the second time this month, north Bibb County residents have petitioned a court to reverse a decision made by the Macon-Bibb County Planning & Zoning Commission.

The most recent petition was filed in Bibb County Superior Court by 18 residents against the zoning commission and developer Sierra Development. The residents want the court to reverse a zoning commission decision that would allow a mixed-use development -- with commercial, office and multifamily residential features -- to be built in the 5800 block of Zebulon Road.

Sierra Development and SPP Commercial Group, both Macon-based companies, plan to build an upscale $30-million project called Lofts at Zebulon on a 25-acre site made up of seven contiguous properties. Owners of those properties have been trying to sell for years, and other residents in the area have objected to previous plans to develop the site. SSP was not listed in the court filing.

The most recent court document filed by Macon attorney Samuel Aldermann III asks the court to reverse the rezoning decision, to declare the approved application null and void and to grant other relief "it deems just and equitable."

The petitioners are: Robert E. Puryear Sr., Margaret Puryear, Thomas A. Smothers III, Carolyn G. Smothers, Eric Lassiter, Annie McFarland Bray, William M. Sutherland, Lydia Sutherland, Charles H. Teel, Christine R. Teel, Billy Hester, Sheila A. Hester, Jean Corson, Columbus Watkins, Eric Manson, Barbara J. Davis, John Vasquez, and Barbara Vasquez.

Thursday afternoon, however, Alderman said the Puryears would not be a party to the case and an amendment would be filed in a week or so. He said also that while other people may have contributed to legal representation, "everybody who may be interested in the outcome or even affected by the outcome (doesn't) necessarily have the standing or the right to be plaintiffs."

The petition says the commission's decision to rezone the site was contrary to its comprehensive plan, that the conceptual plan was incomplete, that it was spot zoning and that the development would damage the interests of the petitioners.

Early last week, another petition was filed by nine residents of Rivoli Downs subdivision to get the same court to reverse the commission's decision to rezone 60 acres off Bowman Road for an apartment complex. Both rezonings were approved at the commission's Dec. 14 meeting.

To contact writer Linda S. Morris, call 744-4223 or follow her on Twitter@MidGaBiz.

This story was originally published January 21, 2016 at 4:46 PM with the headline "Zebulon Road residents ask court to reverse rezoning decision in north Bibb County ."