Paulding County pauses new R-55 and NPR rezonings, reviews multimillion-dollar road and utility contracts

Paulding County planning staff on Jan. 28 proposed a six-month moratorium on accepting rezoning applications for the county's two newest residential categories — Master Plan Residential (NPR) and Active Adult Residential (R-55) — and county departments updated commissioners on pending public-works contracts and a change order for the county radio system.

The moratorium, presented by planning staff, would stop the planning division from accepting rezoning requests for up to six months while staff prepares a text amendment for the county code. Planning staff told commissioners that, over roughly the past five years, those two zoning categories have resulted in nearly 3,000 approved lots countywide. Planning staff also said they expect to present a draft text amendment to the planning commission at its March meeting and hope to lift the moratorium as soon as that text amendment is adopted.

Why it matters: Planning staff said the two districts allow smaller lots (the R-55 district permits lots as small as about 8,000 square feet) and have accumulated recurring stipulations on approvals; the moratorium is intended to let staff convert commonly used stipulations into baseline code requirements to create clearer, consistent expectations for developers and communities.

Infrastructure and contracts discussed

County staff reviewed several large procurement items and project agreements during the same session. Highlights discussed by staff included:

- 2025 County asphalt project: Staff said the county received seven bids for a contract to mill, level and plant-mix-surface about 26.95 miles of county through roads in Post 2 and Post 3. The lowest responsible bidder was Northwest Georgia Paving with a bid of $10,129,485.25; staff said that figure was about 9% below the county estimate and that the contract completion date would be Oct. 31, 2025, if approved. The record in the work session materials notes funding from the general fund (Sploss), but the transcript does not record a final vote on award.

- Morningside Drive water and sewer main relocation: Staff described a required relocation tied to a Georgia Department of Transportation bridge replacement on Morningside Drive. The county advertised the relocation project and received multiple proposals; the low proposer identified in the materials was Ardito Construction (also shown in meeting materials as Ardito/Ardito Construction) with an amount not to exceed $652,000. Staff said the project includes hanging a main on the replacement bridge and splitting it back to two mains on the west side; funding was noted from the renewal/extension fund in Post 3. The transcript records discussion and recommendation but does not record a final award vote.

- Additional engineering services for Morningside/Main relocation: Staff requested authorization to extend a services agreement with the project's designer to allow continued coordination with DOT and the contractor; the recommended amount for that consultant amendment was shown as not to exceed $95,980.

- Cadillac interceptor (sewer) development agreement: Staff described a development agreement with Wintergreen Development LLC under which the developer would contribute $375,000 toward construction of a reroute (the "Cadillac" interceptor) needed because an existing pump station (Rake Straw Pump Station) cannot accept additional flows without the reroute. The transcript records the participation amount and project purpose; a final board action is not recorded in the session excerpts.

- Granulated activated carbon purchase for the Richland Creek water plant: Staff said the plant has six vessels (each with about 60,000 lb capacity) and requested approval to fill the sixth vessel to support taste-and-odor treatment and PFAS removal. The recommended purchase amount was $135,600. Staff discussed estimated service life per vessel — roughly nine months under current flows — and the purchase's role in enabling carbon rotation and regeneration.

- Radio system change order (Mueller Road/7 Hills Tower): The county's third change order for the radio system project was presented at $100,645, split into $31,030 for breaking and disposal of rock at the Sheriff's Department Training Center (270 Dallas Industrial Drive) and $69,615 for improvements at the 7 Hills Tower site near County Services Lane. Staff said building a county-owned equipment compound outside an American Tower compound reduced long-term ground-lease costs by about $2,650 per month and that the change order would pay for itself in a little over two years. Staff projected radio testing to begin in June or July and a project completion target of Dec. 31, 2025. The transcript records staff presentation and discussion but does not include a recorded formal approval in the excerpt.

Other items

- Sale/conveyance of a small county-owned strip on Amsterdam Way (plat book 81, page 165): Staff described a roughly 5,400-square-foot strip of county-owned land originally set aside for a future right-of-way in the Windmill Creek subdivision. Under Ordinance 24-31, the county may offer small, narrow strips to abutting owners; staff recommended following that ordinance and allowing the three abutting property owners to bid. Staff said they reviewed assessor records and plats and do not anticipate a public need for the right-of-way.

- Sheriff’s inmate medical services contract: Staff noted the county seeks a one-year contract with Dr. Mary East of East Clinic to continue a program in place since 2011 that provides on-site medical care at the jail and screens inmates before sending them to specialists. The county cited the recent passing of the prior contract physician as the reason for the new one-year agreement request.

- Agenda housekeeping: Commissioners also moved to add a roadway-naming item for the Paulding County Airport (naming a hangar-area road "Carmichael Court") to the regular session agenda; that motion and second were made during the work session and the board voted to add the item to the regular session agenda.

What comes next

Planning staff said it hopes to present a text amendment on NPR and R-55 to the planning commission in March; county staff indicated many of the procurement and contract items discussed will be included on a future regular session agenda for formal action. Several items presented at the work session included funding sources (general fund Sploss, renewal/extension funds in Posts 3 and 4) and projected contract amounts; where the transcript did not record a final approval vote, staff recommended actions are noted as such.