The Oconee County Planning Commission has only two items on its agenda for its Monday night meeting, but both items, if they are approved by the Board of Commissioners and developed as proposed, will have noticeable impact on the county.
Townley Family Partnership LLLP is asking the county to rezone 242.3 acres stretching from Clotfelter Road to Malcom Bridge Road from AG (Agricultural) to R-1 (Single Family Residential District) for a 119 lot residential subdivision.
The owners of 17.8 acres stretching from Experiment Station Road along the east side of Bishop Farms Parkway to the Oconee Campus of the University of North Georgia are asking the county to approve rezones to create three residential lots and a fourth lot to accommodate a grocery store with gas pumps, a family restaurant, and an open air retail pavilion.
The Townley rezone follows a similar rezone approved by the Board of Commissioners in January of 300 acres north of Hog Mountain Road between Rocky Branch and Hodges Mill roads for a 120-lot residential subdivision.
The Board set as a condition of that rezone a 10-year moratorium on development of the property, and the county planning staff is recommending that same condition should the Board approve the rezone currently being requested by Townley Family Partnership.
The 17.8 acres on Bishop Farm Parkway are owned by members of the Bishop Family, who are requesting that the lot fronting on Experiment Station Road be increased in size to 4.8 acres and zoned to B-1 General Business from AR-3 (Agricultural Residential Three Acre District).
The remaining three lots would be slightly reconfigured and be zoned AR-3 to be developed as residences for members of the Bishop family.
The Planning Commission meets at 6 p.m. at the Oconee County Administrative Building, 7635 Macon Highway, north of Watkinsville. The Board of Commissioners is scheduled to consider the rezone requests at its meeting on Jan. 6.
Townley Rezone
The Townley rezone is for five parcels, all currently zoned AG.
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| Townley Properties Proposed For Rezone Outlined In Red |
One of those parcels, sized 37.4 acres, originally was part of a larger tract, from which 99.9 acres were carved off and rezoned R-1 (Single Family Residential District) in 2007 for what became Malcom Bridge Estates.
That subdivision is largely unbuilt, with much of the acreage owned by Malcom Bridge Estates LLC, which is headquartered at 1280 Snows Mill Road, the address of Townley Family Partnership LLLP.
Tony Townley is the owner or managing member of Townley Family Partnership LLLP.
The narrative for the rezone before the Planning Commission on Monday refers to the proposed 119-lot subdivision as Malcom Bridge Estates Phase II.
The proposed new subdivision will access Malcom Bridge Road via the currently approved entrance for Malcom Bridge Estates Phase I. The main entrance will be off Clotfelter Road at Lillwater Lane.
Oconee County Schools told the county planning department that it anticipated the rezone will add 119 students to its North Oconee High School Attendance Zone. All 12 schools in the Oconee County Schools system currently are under capacity.
While Townley accepted the 10 year delay in issuance of a building permit for the rezone of its property on Rocky Branch and Hodges Mill roads in January, Jeff Carter of Carter Engineering, representing Townley, is proposing only a five year delay for the current rezone.
The county planning staff is recommending for the requested current rezone that “No Final Plat shall be granted for a period of ten (10) years from the date of Board of Commissioners approval.”
Bishop Proposal
The Bishop family proposal is for a two-story building at the corner of Bishop Farms Parkway and Experiment Station Road that would contain a grocery store and family style restaurant.
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| Bishop Properties Proposed For Rezone Outlined In Red |
Total size of the building would be 23,500 square feet, with up to a 4,000 square feet dedicated to the family style restaurant.
Also proposed is an outdoor covered pavilion of up to 5,000 square feet that could be used for outdoor eating, a farmers market, or other activities, according to the narrative submitted with the rezone.
Gas pumps would be in front of the grocery store and restaurant.
Access to the grocery store and restaurant would be via a full entrance on Bishop Farm Parkway and a right in right out driveway on Experiment Station Road.
The lot to be used for the grocery store and restaurant currently is owned by Robert Bishop, according to county tax records.
Access to the three residential lots would be from Bishop Farms Parkway.
Bishop Farms Parkway dead ends at the college, though the county has considered extending it to Bishop Farms Parkway South and New High Shoals Road. That proposal currently is on hold.
The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia owns 15.5 acres between the Bishop properties and the U.S. 441 bypass that is undeveloped.
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