Residents urge Snellville council to deny Summit Chase rezoning, cite blasting, traffic and density

Residents told the Snellville City Council during public comment that a proposed rezoning to allow 126 homes on the former Summit Chase golf course would harm adjacent neighborhoods through blasting, heavier traffic and lot-size incompatibility.

The matter drew multiple speakers during the public-comment period, many of whom urged the council to respect a unanimous Planning Commission recommendation to deny the rezoning and to keep the area's existing RS-30 zoning rather than rezoning to RS-5 to allow smaller lots.

Neighbors said the proposed plan would add roughly 126 homes and an estimated 252 additional cars, and cited recent blasting at nearby work sites as evidence that construction could cause structural damage, public-safety and environmental risks. Catherine Morgan, a Summit Chase resident, opened her remarks with a line she said she borrowed from popular culture: "Logic dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one." She asked the council to "affirm the unanimous vote of the Planning Commission, and deny this petition."

Several speakers described direct experience with blasting at nearby developments. Ken Morgan, who identified himself as a longtime equipment operator and public-works crew chief, said bluntly, "Blasting and structures are not compatible," and warned of potential release of radon gas, damage to water and sewer lines and long-term effects on neighborhood infrastructure. Other residents described cracked driveways and shaken homes they attributed to recent blasts.

Speakers also disputed developer-led provisions the council has considered, including buffer widths and the developer's plan to provide a gated emergency-only access. One speaker said a buffer previously described as 35 feet had been reduced to 15 feet after lot changes. Multiple commenters said the proposed lot sizes and home spacing (residents noted homes as close as 20 feet apart in the plan) are out of character with surrounding RS-30 lots that they said average tens of thousands of square feet.

Residents pressed practical concerns: Kevin Ludic, who identified himself as living on Summit Chase Drive, said congestion on neighborhood roads is already significant and warned an influx of vehicles would strain narrow streets that are not intended as primary access to Highway 78. Several speakers said recent water-main problems near Johnson Lake and aging sewer and storm systems increase vulnerability to effects from heavy construction and blasting.

At the meeting, Mayor Pro Tem Warner had earlier told the room that the council would consider a zoning item at an upcoming meeting and acknowledged the sensitivity of the subject. Warner also said he expected he might need to recuse himself from a future vote and that "the motion that is still upon the table" had been delayed to the next meeting.

Speakers offered alternatives: some urged the developer to pursue RS-30 lots that would match existing neighborhood lot sizes; others suggested converting the land to recreational uses such as a horse park or retaining more open space. Several residents asked the council to require more geological study or evidence that blasting would not cause unacceptable harm before approving any rezoning.

No formal vote on the rezoning is recorded in the transcript excerpt provided; the item remained under discussion and public comment at the time the transcript segment ends.

The council did not render a final decision in the portion of the meeting covered by the transcript provided. The rezoning remains an active agenda item to be addressed at a future meeting.