Rezonings for a convenience store/gas station on Old Phoenix Road and a grocery/fresh meat market on Pea Ridge Road were recommended for approval last week by the Putnam County Planning and Zoning Commission.
Final approval for the rezoning requests will be considered at the Dec. 19 meeting of the Putnam Board of Commissioners.
The proposed Old Phoenix Road project would combine four lots between Cuscowilla Drive and Lake Oconee into a single 3.46-acre parcel, in addition to three rezonings from RM-1 (multi-family) to C-1 (commercial) and one rezoning from RM-3 to C-1.
Speaking as the agent for property owner Eugene Wheeler, Athens-based site designer Rick McAllister noted that 60 percent of a 3,600-foot corridor between Cuscowilla Drive and the lake was already zoned for commercial use.
The board’s recommendation included a 50-foot natural buffer required for any part of the parcel adjacent to land zoned for residential use. Another condition recommended developer-funded turn lanes to handle the expected increase in traffic.
Meanwhile, Darin Simmons suggested his proposed “country store” at 182 Pea Ridge Rd. could be roughly compared to the South Georgia chain of Strickland’s stores – minus the gas pumps. “It will have all you need for a home-cooked meal,” he said.
Simmons’ rezoning request would shift the 10-acre parcel near U.S. 441 from Ag (agricultural) to C-2 (commercial).
A conditional-use request from Bobby Wilder for the property at 641 Dennis Station Rd. was tabled at his request until the planning commission’s Jan. 4, 2024 meeting.
The board also recommended the passage of a package of technical code changes related to zoning and development. Chairman John Mitchell said the purpose was to “clean up” details and to make planning- and zoning’s part in the code “consistent” with other changes under consideration.