Wednesday, May 20, 2015

A Small Truck Repair Facility Is Coming To Oconee County Because of Caterpillar, Developer Told Planning Commission

In Business Park

While no vendors have located in the property adjacent to the Caterpillar Plant on Atlanta Highway on the east side of Bogart, despite the expectation that they would do so, Mike Power told the Planning Commission on Monday night that a four-bay truck repair is coming to his business park because of Caterpillar.

Power’s development, called Mars Hill Business Park, is located on Mars Hill Road across from Malcom Bridge Road.

Look East, Mars Hill Road  On Right

That puts it south of SR 316 and east of U.S. 78, or diagonally across from the Orkin Tract, from which the Caterpillar plant property was carved in 2012.

The Planning Commission approved the truck repair project unanimously, sending it to the Board of Commissioners, which is scheduled to take action on the rezone request at its June 2 meeting.

Seeking Modification

Power did not identify the operator of the truck repair facility, but he called him in the video below a “good businessman” who understood the requirement that his truck repair facility has to blend in with the other businesses already in the park as well as those Power hopes to attract in the future.

OCO: Power On Caterpillar from Lee Becker on Vimeo

Power was asking the Planning Commission to lift a condition on the zoning ordinance for the lots to be used for the business that specifically prohibited a tractor and truck repair garage.

He also is seeking two hardship variances, one that would allow an automotive repair operation adjacent to a residential zoning district and the other to increase the maximum floor space allowed for an automotive repair operation from 8,000 square feet to 8,800 square feet.

The Planning Commission does not deal with variance requests. Those will be before the Board of Commissioners on June 2 as well.

Zoning History

The county zoned Mars Hill Business Park in 2001, with nine B-2 (highway business) and 16 O-B-P (office business park) lots.

The truck repair will be on three adjoining lots at the rear of the park that back up on the east-bound entrance ramp to SR 316 from U.S. 78.

Parts of two of the lots abut property now zoned for residential development.

The Planning Commission struck down all of the five listed restrictions that had been placed on the use of the B-2 lots as part of that 2001 rezone.

The Commission also included a condition calling for installation of landscape buffers along the property lines that adjoin the residential lots prior to any clearing or grading of the business lots.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Power needs a hardship variance. That's a good one. I hope the Planning Commission considers the road that leads to that particular property and that the road is already heavily congested with school traffic. We don't need tractor trailer traffic to add to the problem.