Washington County planning panel backs reduced landscape buffers for Dollar General site

The Washington County Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval April 7 of a variance that will let the developer of a Dollar General at 888 Corbin Road use smaller vegetative buffers and add privacy fencing instead of the originally required larger buffers.

The commission’s action was a recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners; the Planning Commission vote was recorded as four yes votes with several members excused. Staff said the change would move some planting closer to the building and add a 6-foot privacy fence to improve screening for nearby residences.

Dawn McDonald, planning staff, told the commission the project is the previously approved major development review for a commercial building on roughly 4.99 acres in Chipley and that Terramor Development purchased the property. She said the current request would replace two 10-foot rights-of-way buffers previously shown and reduce the east and north perimeter buffers from the originally required widths (20 feet on the east adjacent to a residential/agricultural area; 50 feet in some agricultural settings) down to 10 feet where the fence or revised planting would be placed. McDonald said staff recommended approval because moving the planting closer to the building and adding fence would provide screening and help avoid gaps in the buffer.

Brian Braun of Access Engineering Consultants, representing the applicant, said the proposal replaces the previously required Type C buffer in two locations with a Type A buffer. “So we went from a C to an A,” Braun said, describing the change as meeting the county code’s Type A standards while allowing a narrower planted area. He also confirmed builders have installed the approved driveway access to Orange Hill Road under an earlier minor deviation and that the building facade and drive are in place.

Several neighbors spoke during public comment with concerns about lighting and stormwater. One nearby resident said the retention ponds appeared full after a short rain and worried about future flooding; Braun replied that the retention pond design used industry software, that the site is out of the flood plain, and that an as-built survey and certification will be completed before construction is finished. The resident also showed photographs of nighttime light spill; Braun and staff said light shields shown in the plans had not yet been installed and that they would verify the fixtures are shielded to direct light downward.

Commissioners asked about how the fence, buffer location and maintenance would be handled and whether the change could make future lot division easier. Staff and the county attorney explained that the variance request concerns only landscape buffering and that a separate subdivision or future land-use change would require additional applications; a prior proposal to subdivide the property had been denied and any identical application would be subject to a two-year limitation unless the Board of County Commissioners waived that restriction.

A motion to recommend approval passed on roll call. Recorded votes on the Planning and Zoning Commission were: District 1 Roger Hagen — yes; District 2 Richard Kennedy — yes; District 4 Carl Owens — yes; Member at Large John Gaines — yes. District 3 Michelle Cook and District 5 Jared (surname excused) and the school board representative were noted as excused during roll call.

The commission’s recommendation will be forwarded to the Board of County Commissioners for final action because the project is part of a major development review.