Walton County planning commissioners voted Oct. 2 to forward a rezoning request for a 118.27‑acre development called Bison Landing to the Walton County Board of Commissioners, recommending approval with conditions. The application asks to rezone portions of parcels at and near 2806 Highway 11 and George Williams Road to create a 99‑lot R‑1 OSC conservation subdivision and a 12.23‑acre B‑2 commercial outparcel.

The applicant’s representative, Andrea Gray, said the proposal would produce a conservation subdivision with at least 28% open space and a commercial parcel on Highway 11. “I have the pleasure of representing Baldpate General Contracting and their request for approval of Bison Landing,” Gray told the commission, adding the proposal would include sidewalks, street lights, underground utilities and homes with a minimum 2,000 square feet.

The nut graf: the commission’s recommendation does not finalize zoning; it forwards the case to the Board of Commissioners, which will make the final decision on Nov. 4. The commission imposed conditions intended to limit future commercial impacts and to give notice to home buyers.

Commissioners and neighbors discussed traffic, buffers and neighborhood character as the project generated a lengthy public comment period. Several residents said the proposed subdivision would route additional daily traffic onto George Williams Road, a gravel connector that already feeds onto Highway 11 and local gravel roads used by families and school traffic. James Whitford, an adjacent resident, told the commission he was worried about the commercial zoning on Highway 11 and its compatibility with the neighborhood, saying “the B2 designation... is designed to serve the automotive traveling public.”

Andrea Gray said the applicant trimmed the amount of commercial acreage after earlier proposals. “We scaled back that commercial portion to just 12 acres in consideration” of local concerns, she said. Gray also explained that the R‑1 OSC option was chosen to preserve contiguous open space, and that the project’s density (0.84 lots per acre in the application) is lower than the code’s maximum for that zoning category.

After public comment, a planning commission member representing District 5 moved to approve the application as submitted with conditions. The motion included: requiring professional landscaping at the commercial frontage that meets county code; restricting commercial lighting to downward‑directed fixtures; prohibiting any future conditional‑use requests for outside storage on the commercial parcel; requiring a brick (masonry) front facade for commercial buildings; and inserting an agricultural disclosure in new‑construction sales contracts for the subdivision. The commission voted to forward the rezoning with those conditions; one commissioner registered opposition to the recommendation.

Discussion vs. decision: commissioners extensively debated neighborhood traffic, setbacks and buffers during the public comment period and the applicant’s presentation (discussion). The commission’s vote was a recommendation with specified conditions (formal action) to the Board of Commissioners, not a final rezoning.

Background details: the proposal combines two parcels to achieve the 118.27 acres; the developer carved an approximately 16‑acre parcel around an existing estate home out of the development and said the project would meet or exceed local ordinance requirements for open space and home size. The applicant said the commercial parcel would seek B‑2 uses but does not yet have a committed tenant. Several residents asked that any residential access be on Highway 11 rather than George Williams Road; the applicant and commissioners noted access and roadway improvements will be subject to review by the county and the Georgia Department of Transportation.

What happens next: the Planning Commission’s recommendation and the conditions will be transmitted to the Walton County Board of Commissioners, which will hold the final hearing on Nov. 4. If commissioners approve, the developer must still obtain any required access permits, meet county development standards and complete site development steps before construction.