The Oconee County Planning Commission, in a 4 to 3 vote, recommended to the Mayor and Town Council of Bishop that it deny a request that it rezone six acres on High Shoals Road next to the planned St. Aelred Catholic Church for use as a special events venue.
The Commission then, in a 5 to 2 vote, recommended to the Mayor and Town Council that it grant a variance to the property owner asking for the rezone for the event venue for a reduction in the buffer from 15 feet to zero feet between the event venue and St. Aelred Church.
The county planning staff, acting on behalf of the Town Of Bishop, had recommended against approval of the rezone and had recommended the granting of a variance only if the zoning request had been approved.
The Mayor and Town Council will be asked to sort out these recommendations at its meeting at 7 p.m. on Dec. 8 at City Hall.
In other action, the Commission at its Nov. 17 meeting voted unanimously to recommend that the Oconee County Board of Commissioners modify the conditions of an existing rezone for a commercial office park on Jimmy Daniell Road to allow an increase in the total allowed building area from 86,000 square feet to 105,000 square feet.
The Commission also voted unanimously to recommend that the Board of Commissioners at its Dec. 2 meeting modify the buffer requirements originally imposed on Briarwood Baptist Church for its planned parking lot on Robinhood Road and modify the conditions of a residential rezone on Bridlegate Drive.
The Commission recommended, in a 5 to 2 vote, that the Board of Commissioners reject the county planning staff recommendation and rezone six acres on Elder Mill Road to allow for two three-acre residential lots.
The Commission recommended, in a 5 to 2 vote, that the Mayor and Town Council of North High Shoals rezone 7.5 acres for a three-lot residential development. The County Planning staff had recommended to the Mayor and Council, when it meets at 7 p.m. on Dec. 15 at City Hall, that it deny the request.
Bishop Zoning Request
Seeundberg LLC is asking the Town of Bishop to rezone 6 acres to the west of the property on High Shoals Road on which St. Aelred Catholic Church plans to build it church from A-1 Agricultural District to B-2 Highway Business District.
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| Zoning Map With Event Venue Acreage In Red Box, St. Aelred On Right And Below, Dollar General In Dark Yellow |
Seeundberg LLC and its agent Daniela Wieczorek are proposing to build a 4,500 square foot building on the property to be used as an assembly hall and events space.
In October, the Mayor and Town Council granted the church a Conditional Use for an adjoining 15.3 acres for land zoned A-1 for the church.
Access to the events building would be off High Shoals Road via a driveway shared with St. Aelred’s and the existing Dollar General, but Justin Greer of Pittman and Greer Engineering, representing Seeundberg LLC before the Planning Commission, said “The auditorium is separate from the church 100 percent.”
Brian Smith, the only person to speak before the Planning Commission other than Greer, had said he was in favor of the rezone request in part because of its association with the St. Aelred’s.
The planning staff had recommended against the rezone saying it is not consistent with the Joint Comprehensive Plan adopted by the Town and the county. While there are businesses in the area, the property is surrounded by property zoned agricultural, including the property on which the church will be built.
The planning staff said in its report that the variance requested by Seeundberg LLC to eliminate the buffer between the event hall and the church would eliminate a buffer between a commercial use (B-2 zoning for the event venue) and the church (A-1 zoning) and said the variance should be approved only “if the concurrent rezoning is approved.”
Planning Commission members Jim Jenkins, James Staples, Nathan Byrd, Matt Elder, Chuck Hunt, Colby Baker, Christopher Herring, and Ann Evans were present at the meeting. Lisa Ferguson, who represents Bishop on the Planning Commission, did not attend the meeting.
The motion to deny the rezone requested Seeundberg LLC passed with Herring, Jenkins, Evans, and Staples voting to deny the rezone, and Byrd, Elder, and Baker voting against the motion.
The motion to approve the variance passed 5-2 with Herring, Byrd, Elder, Staples, and Baker voting in favor, and Evans and Jenkins voting against the motion.
Modification Of Rezones
Oconee Office Partners LLC is asking the county to modify the conditions of a 2021 rezone of 13.5 acres on the northeast side of Jimmy Daniell Road between Vend Drive and Luxury Drive to allow for an increase in total square footage of the business park from 86,000 square feet to 105,000 square feet.
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| Office Park Outlined In Red Lot At Top, Left Is For Stormwater Management |
The Board of Commissioners rezoned the acreage in 2021 from AG (Agricultural) to OBP (Office-Business Park District) to allow for a nine-lot commercial office park.
At present, two lots have office buildings under construction, and another lot has a gymnastics instruction facility under construction, according to the planning staff report. Oconee Office Partners has applied for a building permit on another lot for an office building that is currently under review, according to the report.
Kevin Price, who identified himself as the “owner, developer, and general contractor for this project,” told the Planning Commission that the 86,000 square foot calculation was based on use of septic systems.
“We were able to negotiate with the county and to develop a private sewer system to tie in to the county system,” he said. “We now have gravity sewer...and the ability to service more square footage,”
Briarwood Baptist Church, located at the corner of Hog Mountain Road and Robinhood Road, is asking the county to modify a Special Use Permit granted in 2016 for construction of a family life center.
When the Board of Commissioners granted the Permit, it required the church to install buffers and landscaping to bring all of its existing parking lots to current zoning standards.
The church is asking that the condition not apply to the Robinhood Road side of the property.
Wallace and Lauren Miller are asking the county to change the conditions of a 2004 rezone for a lot in Bridlewood subdivision that created a 400 foot buffer with operating chicken houses at the rear of the 4.5 acre lot.
Mark Campbell with Carter Engineering told the Planning Commission that the Millers want to build a house on the lot.
Campell said there “haven't been chicken in chicken houses for the last decade” and, given the current condition of the facility, “it's not viable for poultry in those houses.”
The Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval of the modifications requested by Oconee Office Partners, Briarwood Baptist Church, and the Millers.
Elder Mill Road, North High Shoals
Ronald Chapman is asking the county to rezone his 6 acres at 1810 Elder Mill Road from AG (Agricultural) to AR-3 (Agricultural Residential Three Acre District) so he can create two three-acre lots.
The county planning staff recommended denial, saying the rezone “does not comply with the Joint Comprehensive Plan.” The Comprehensive Plan, according to the staff report, “supports AG zoning only in this Character Area.” The majority of the parcels in the area exceed 10 acres, the staff report states.
Chapman told the Planning Commission “I'm trying to get this rezone so I can give my daughter three acres to be able to build a house on. That's really the whole intent here.”
Bill Beaird and Mark Costello, who own neighboring properties, spoke against allowing three-acre lots in the area.
The Planning Commission voted to allow the split of the six acres, with Jenkins, Staples, Byrd, Elder, and Herring supporting the rezone, and Baker and Evans opposed.
Scott Chambers is asking the Town of North High Shoals to rezone 7.5 acres he owns at 2351 Elder Road Extension to create three lots. A house on the property will be on one of those lots, and residences will be built on the remaining two lots, according to the rezone documents.
Attorney Barry Lord from Commerce represented Chambers at the Nov. 17 Planning Commission meeting and said the remaining two new lots would be 2.7 acres and 2.4 acres in size.
The property currently is zoned A-1 (Agricultural District) and B-1 (General Business District). Chamber is requesting an R-1 (Single Family Residential District) rezone.
The Oconee County Planning Staff, operating as the planners for North High Shoals, recommended denial saying the division is “not in compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan” for the city and county.
The Planning Commission voted to recommend that the property be rezoned A-1, with Jenkins, Staples, Baker, Herring, and Evans in favor and Elder and Byrd voting against.
Mars Hill Road And Connector
The rezone on the agenda of the Board of Commissioners for its Dec. 2 meeting that is potentially of greatest impact in the county is a rezone the Board itself has initiated for 33 acres at the corner of the Oconee Connector and Mars Hill Road that had been proposed for a shopping center to include a Publix as an anchor.
The Board turned down the requested rezone for that property in 2022, in part because of traffic concerns, and subsequently was sued by the property owner, Deferred Tax LLC.
The rezone initiated by the Board of Commissioners has four access points, one on the Oconee Connector and three on Mars Hill Road. Three of those access points are right-in, right-out driveways, including the one on the Oconee Connector.
One of the driveways on Mars Hill Road is at a roundabout.
The initiated rezone divides the 33 acres into four parts, with the largest part zoned B-2 Highway Business District, and another part zoned B-1 General Business District. B-2 is the more intense zoning category.
The two parcels facing Mars Hill Road are to be zoned OIP Office Institutional Professional District under the county plan.
The rezone being initiated by the Board is different from the rezone proposed by Deferred Tax in 2022, but it would allow for a grocery store on the site.
The Board initiated the rezone in response to the lawsuit as a means of creating what County Attorney Daniell Haygood called zoning that complies “with the constitutional requirements” of zoning.
The Board will accept public comment before voting on the rezone it has proposed.
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