Construction on the Presbyterian Village at U.S. 441 north of Watkinsville likely will begin this summer, Frank Pittman from Williams and Associates told the Oconee County Development Review Committee on Friday morning.
Work will begin with the Village Health Services Center and the Independent Living Apartment Building, Pittman, chief operating officer at Williams and Associates, said.
Opening of the continuing care retirement community is likely to be 18 months to two years away, Pittman added.
The Development Review Committee approved the preliminary site plan for the 70-acre complex, but it did stipulate that Williams and Associates must “verify that the Wellbrook Road entrance will not allow for right turn outs” as required in the 2015 rezone for the property.
In other action on Friday morning, the DRC approved revised preliminary site plans for the expansion of Epps Bridge Centre and a preliminary plat for Wilkes Meadows, a residential subdivision on Green Ferry Road.
The Planning Commission tomorrow (Monday) night will be considering yet another residential project, this one opposite Daniells Plantation east of Butler’s Crossing.
Question on Sewers
Pittman’s estimate of the construction timetable on Friday came in response to a question from Oconee County Utility Department Director Wayne Haynie.
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| Pittman Responds To Question At DRC 3/17/2017 |
Haynie asked Pittman when he thought “you might generate waste water flow.” The county is struggling to upgrade its Calls Creek sewage treatment plant to meet projected need.
“The plan, as of at least this week, is that they will start construction on this thing this year,” Pittman responded. “They are going to start on the big buildings first. It may take them 12 to 18 months to build those.”
Pittman said the earliest he expected any sewage flow from the project would be the beginning of 2019.
Williams and Associates, 2470 Daniells Bridge Road, has handled land planning and zoning issues for Presbyterian Homes of Georgia, which is developing the Oconee County facility.
Project Generating Interest
Pittman told Code Inspector Paul Smith that he expected Presbyterian Homes would begin moving dirt on the project this summer.
“They’re going hard in their fund-raising efforts,” Pittman said. “They’ve got a ton of people that are putting down deposits and they’re chomping at the bit to move into this place.”
Things could change, Pittman said, but Presbyterian Homes is anxious to get moving on the project.
In addition to the Village Health Services Center and independent living apartment building, the campus will include 113 single-family cottages and 13 two-family villas, according to the plans submitted to the county.
The project has a gated entrance and exit on U.S. 441 opposite Lavista Road, which is shown on the plans as a left- and right-turn entrance but as a right-turn only exit.
The entrance and exit on Wellbrook Road also is gated and is shown on the preliminary site plan as both right- and left-turn in and out.
Adam Layfield, who chaired the DRC meeting on Friday, told Williams and Associates in his review notes that the Wellbrook Road exist can only be left-turn for outbound traffic. Layfield represents the Public Works Department on the DRC.
Epps Bridge Centre
The changes to the preliminary site plan for Epps Bridge Centre II and III, located on 51 acres opposite the existing shopping center on the Oconee Connector, resulted in part from insufficient fill for the project.
The Preliminary Site Plan approved by the DRC subdivides a building in Phase II of the project and adds a building in Phase III of the project.
Both configurations included a single outparcel on Phase II of 2.7 acres.
Philip Cranmer of Oconee 316 Associates, developer of the shopping centers, represented the firm at the Friday meeting.
Taco Bell
On March 9 the county approved a building permit for a Taco Bell on one the outparcels at the front of the existing Epps Bridge Centre near Epps Bridge Parkway.
The 51-seat restaurant will join three others already clustered near the entrance of the shopping center.
Construction of the $700,000 building was expected begin immediately and to be completed by June 15, according to the permit. Total square footage of the building is 2,124.
The Development Review Committee had approved preliminary site plans for the Taco Bell back in July of last year.
Residential Project
The DRC approved the preliminary plat for Wilkes Meadows, a conservation subdivision, after the previous plat expired.
The approval is the first step in bringing the dormant project back to life.
Stonebridge Partners LLC is asking the Planning Commission tomorrow (Monday) night to approve a rezone to allow for a residential subdivision on Stonebridge Parkway.
The project has been before the Planning Commission in the past, but action was delayed at the request of the developer.
The Planning Commission also will consider a request for a rezone to allow for a dentist office on Virgil Langford Road.
The Planning Commission meets at 7 p.m. at the Courthouse in Watkinsville.
Video
The complete video of the Development Review Committee meeting on Friday is below.
Pittman begins speaking at 13:40 in the video.
The meeting took place in the conference room in the Government Annex on SR 315 south of Watkinsville.
The county’s Development Review Committee consists of representatives of the Planning Department, the Public Works Department, the Environmental Health Department, the Utility Department, and the Emergency Management and Fire Department.
OCO: DRC 3 17 2017 from Lee Becker on Vimeo.
3 comments:
The conservation subdivision idea was just a way for developers to be able to put their junky houses on smaller lots. They take a piece of property that has land that is either to close to a creek or to steep or wont perk out, then claim that they will deed that acreage to a land trust if they can have smaller lots. The BOC and planing dept are also to blame for this misnomer. They even let them claim the required setback as "green space". That is how asinine the whole thing is.
Multi story apartment buildings, fast food restaurants by the dozens, and uncontrolled development. Stay classy little Gwinnett.
The most important issue looming over Oconee County is now here.
Packing 'em in, making gobs of money, stressing the infrastructure.
More to come. Will the County take care or go for the dough?
Better get involved or, as Anonymous 5:24 says above, we're suddenly Little Gwinett.
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