Henry County commissioners approve Willow Lane rezoning for 259-home development with design, road and school-access conditions

The Henry County Board of Commissioners approved a rezoning to allow a 259-home subdivision along Willow Lane, with conditions requiring road right-of-way dedication for a planned widening, a school crosswalk and sidewalks installed before building permits, and limits on repeating identical house plans.

The rezoning request, presented by Steve Moore of Moore Vass Consulting on behalf of Lennar Corporation, covers land previously entitled for higher-density mixed-use development. Moore said the proposal converts the site from the previously-zoned rental apartments to 259 for-sale units: 181 townhomes on the west side and 78 detached single-family lots on the east side.

The change matters because the property had an earlier entitlement for multifamily rental development at a higher density. Moore told the board the county's land-use designation supports up to 20 units per acre but the current proposal is substantially less dense: "We're proposing 259 total units," he said, and the applicant reported a gross density of about five units per acre.

Under the approved conditions, the developer agreed to donate additional right-of-way for the Willow Lane widening at no cost to the county. Planning staff and the county manager confirmed that dedication for the widening is captured in the zoning conditions (condition 7). Commissioners also added a requirement that sidewalks to the adjacent elementary school and the installation of a crosswalk be completed "prior to issuance of the first building permit" (added language to condition 8).

Design controls were a focal point in debate. Multiple commissioners and residents said they were concerned about repetitive, "cookie-cutter" housing elevations shown in the packet. The board amended the rezoning conditions by pulling county code language limiting duplicate home plans: "No lot shall be permitted to have the same house plan replicated within 3 lots on either side of a public or private street," and requiring a developer to provide a site plan showing proposed house plans within a six-lot vicinity at the time of permit application; reversing a garage location alone will not satisfy the requirement.

Resident Tina Coria, who identified herself as living at 660 Chambers Road, opposed the development's density and said the area already has many apartments: "We were opposed when it was at planning and zoning because of the density," she said during public comment. In response, Moore and a commissioner noted that the proposal reduces potential density compared with earlier entitlements and converts rental units to for-sale product. Moore also said the developer is amenable to a 5 percent rental cap included in the conditions.

The approved site plan calls for rear-access units fronting Willow Lane to preserve a streetscape appearance, two pool/amenity areas (one on each side of Willow Lane) so residents need not cross the road to reach recreation, a dog park, pocket parks, guest parking, and interior front-entry units with 24-foot widths. Moore described townhome sizes at about 1,900 to 2,500 square feet with three- and four-bedroom layouts; detached houses were described as roughly 2,000 to 2,200 square feet.

County staff and the developer reiterated that final elevations and materials will be subject to planning review; the board added the explicit condition on plan variety so commissioners and staff can review final elevation and plan books prior to permit issuance.

After the applicant and staff answered questions and the board amended conditions to include the non-duplication language and the clarified crosswalk/sidewalk requirement, a motion to approve the rezoning (as amended) was made, seconded and the motion carried.

The rezoning now proceeds under the stated conditions; the board did not provide a roll-call vote total in the public record during the meeting. Further implementation details, including final engineering for the road widening and the timetable for construction and permitting, will be governed by the conditions attached to the zoning approval and by subsequent permit reviews.