The Oconee County Planning Commission on Monday (June 16) is scheduled to review requests for three separate commercial developments, one on Mars Hill Road, one on nearby Lenru Road, and the third on U.S. 441 at Spartan Lane.
The county planning staff has recommended approval of all three requests, but it is asking the Planning Commission and the Board of Commissioners to eliminate proposed B-2 (Highway Business) Zoning for one lot in the commercial development on Mars Hill Road.
The staff argues that B-2 zoning is incompatible with nearby residential properties.
Planning staff states that the county’s Unified Development Code permits the county to grant Rodney Jones a Special Use Approval to allow for a Family Entertainment Center in an already constructed building in The Village at Malcom Bridge.
Jones says in his planning narrative that he wants to build The Village Clubhouse to include “state-of-the-art bowling lanes, cutting-edge golf simulators, an extensive arcade, and a restaurant operated by a respected local restaurateur.”
Submitted drawing show a restaurant with a bar, an arcade, two golf rooms, and 10 bowling lanes.
The planning staff report says that the request to rezone just less than three acres on the northeast corner of Spartan Lane and U.S. 441 (Macon Highway) for a three-building medical park is compatible with nearby residential properties and Athens Academy.
The Planning Commission will hold public hearings on these requests starting at 6 p.m. at the County Administrative Building, 7635 Macon Highway, north of Watkinsville.
Mars Hill Road Request
Chad Keller, through CK Capital, is asking the county to rezone 14.9 acres on Mars Hill Road at Bell Road from AG (Agricultural) to a mix of B-2 (Highway Business), OBP (Office-Business Park), and OIP (Office-Institutional-Professional) so he can build a nine-lot commercial development.
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| CK Capital Property Outlined In Green |
The lots are to be used for commercial offices and warehousing, with lots ranging in size form one to two acres.
Keller is asking that the portion of the property that fronts on Mars Hill Road be zoned B-2.
Access to the development will be from a newly constructed street off Mars Hill Road.
Senior Planner David Webb, in the staff report, writes that “Uses allowed in the B-2 zone would be too intense in this area with existing residential and institutional uses.”
Webb said that “The lots adjacent to existing residential lots and Bell Road, which is a residential street, are recommended to be OIP to provide a buffer to the higher intensity OBP uses.”
“A developing regional shopping center that is approved approximately 2,500 away along Mars Hill Road at Highway 78 is a changing factor that will increase traffic in this area,” Webb wrote.
“Therefore, the more intense B-2 zone would not be supported,” he wrote. “There are less intense uses allowed in the OBP and OIP zones, which would be more compatible for this area.”
Lenru Road Request
Jones, on behalf of his Lenru Development LLC, is asking the county to grant him a Special Use Approval for the 6.6 acres that make up the Village at Malcom Bridge.
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| Lenru Development Panorama (Click To Enlarge) |
The shopping center has multiple building complete, with some still under construction, according to the staff report.
Webb, the author of the staff report for this development as well, said that the final plat for Building 800, which is to house the entertainment center, is still under review.
The 14,980 square foot building is just under the maximum 15,000 allowed by the 2018 rezone for the shopping center.
According to the Fire Department review “There may be modifications to the site required once the building permit is applied for” and “If the occupant load exceeds 300 people of the restaurant or throughout all mercantile occupancies exceeding 12,000 SF (1115 m2) in gross area, the building will be required to be sprinklered.”
The submitted plans show a medical clinic as part of building, though no mention is made of that facility in the submitted narrative.
The narrative states that the special use permit is being request to allow for “Amusement and Recreation Uses” in the already constructed building.
“This innovative Family Entertainment Center addresses the community's need for diverse, high-quality leisure options under one roof,” the narrative reads.
Alcohol Sales
The narrative does not indicate if alcohol will be sold in the entertainment center, though the plans do show a bar in the restaurant.
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| Manor Holdings Properties Outlined In Red |
The county revised its alcohol beverage ordinance in December of last year to allow alcohol sales in The Village at Malcom Bridge, which is across the street from Malcom Bridge Middle School.
The new ordinance allows restaurants in cinemas to serve alcohol in all theaters in its facility rather than only in restricted ones, as was required in the former ordinance.
The ordinance did not anticipate how alcohol sales would be handled in an entertainment center that includes a bar and restaurant as a component.
U.S. 441 Request
Manor Holdings LLC of Athens is asking the county to combine three parcels now zoned AR (Agricultural Residential) and AG (Agricultural) to OIP (Office-Institutional-Profession).
One of the lots fronts on U.S. 441. One fronts on both U.S. 441 and Spartan Lane. And one has no frontage on either road.
The property is currently vacant.
Two of the proposed buildings are proposed to be 8,000 square feet in size. The third will be 4,000 square feet in size.
Access to the three buildings will be from a driveway on Spartan Lane.
The Fire Department review states that the submitted plans will need to be to modified “to provide proper fire department turnaround as stated in the 2018 International Fire Code.”
Matt Richardson is the managing member of Manor Holdings.
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