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Whitfield County Commissioners put West Brow subdivision on hold pending traffic and safety studies
Summary
The Whitfield County Board of Commissioners voted 4-0 to postpone action on the proposed West Brow development after residents and commissioners raised sight-line and traffic-safety concerns; the developer must provide traffic and engineering studies before the board will reconsider the rezoning.
The Whitfield County Board of Commissioners voted 4-0 on June 9 to postpone consideration of the West Brow residential development after public comment and commissioner discussion raised traffic and safety questions.
The item, which would allow up to 119 homes on a roughly 36.9-acre parcel off Hag Mill Road, was put on hold so county staff and the developer can supply required studies, including a traffic analysis and sight-distance evaluation, before building permits could be considered.
The postponement followed public comment from Janet Lovelady, who said the proposed plan understates how the subdivided lots and single entrance would affect sight lines and traffic. “There are 119 houses in a 36.9 acre field of land,” Lovelady said. “There will only be one entry and one exit. The entry and exit is situated between two curves… that does not meet that requirement. So that’s going to create a hazard.”
Kent Benson, chair of the Metropolitan Planning Organization, told commissioners the MPO’s long-range planning work has already identified congestion problems in the area and recommended collecting traffic counts once school is in session. “In that process five years ago, the Dug Gap Road–Walnut Avenue intersection was identified as the single most congested and incident-causing intersection in the county,” Benson said. He emphasized the need for baseline counts to evaluate whether additional development would be appropriate.
Commissioners agreed that a decision without engineering data could expose the county to unforeseen safety or infrastructure costs. Commissioner Jones moved to postpone the rezoning request pending the submission and review of the required studies; Commissioner Robbins seconded. The motion passed on a 4-0 vote.
County staff and the developer were instructed to work with the county engineer to produce the traffic counts, sight-distance analyses and any additional materials required to evaluate access and emergency-vehicle operations. The board noted that even if it approves rezoning later, building permits would not be issued until the county’s engineering reviews are complete.
The record shows the discussion included references to existing dedicated connections from adjacent subdivisions (Brandon Farms) and the county’s subdivision rules on number of permitted lots per single entrance, but commissioners declined to approve the rezoning until data had been gathered and reviewed.
The matter will return to a future agenda after county staff confirm the required traffic and access reports have been provided.
