Hiram City officials held a public hearing on an application by Traighton LLC seeking to rezone 30.56 acres off Jimmy Lee Smith from R2 (suburban residential) to R55 (active adult residential) for a 55‑plus community.

City planning staff presented recommended stipulations and conditions for plan review. Staff noted the developer originally proposed 115 units but revised the plan to 93 detached homes and removed townhomes and a second access in response to residents’ concerns. Cliff, a city planning staff member, said the recommendation included coordination with Paulding County and Georgia DOT and a series of engineering and right‑of‑way dedications for Pace Road and Old Mill Road.

Kevin Moore, attorney for the applicant, said the revised plan has a single access onto Jimmy Lee Smith, no access to Pace Mill or Old Mill Road, and will preserve the wooded buffer along the rear property line: “This is 93 homes, sitting on individual lots that are detached, and it contains a single access point, a single entry, onto Jimmy Lee Smith with no access to Pace Mill or Old Mill Road.” Moore also told the council Traighton Homes agrees with the city’s added conditions except those requiring improvements to Pace Road and Old Mill Road because the developer will no longer access those roads.

Staff and the applicant discussed a set of stipulations the county had proposed (including right‑of‑way dedications, parking and amenity requirements, and traffic‑calming measures) and two additional conditions the city added. Staff said access details, utility ownership (streets and lighting to be HOA‑owned), and required plan review submittals would be determined during construction plan review.

Council members and staff discussed traffic and safety concerns raised by nearby residents at the Paulding County Planning Commission meeting. Moore said the removal of the second access and the reduction in units responded to those concerns and that the property’s limited frontage reduces its suitability for commercial development. He also said Traighton Homes would consider an emergency‑only access if the county would permit it: “Yes. It’s absolutely feasible for us to… limit to an emergency access only,” Moore said, noting any access onto county roads would require county approval.

No members of the public registered opposition at the hearing. The public hearing was closed; the transcript does not record a council vote on the rezoning during the meeting.

Why it matters: If rezoned and ultimately approved, the project would add a concentrated age‑restricted housing product and change the development pattern on a parcel identified in the city’s future land use map as potentially commercial. The item requires coordination with Paulding County transportation staff and Georgia DOT for roadside access and right‑of‑way matters.

Next steps: The matter was presented as a public hearing with staff recommendations; the record was closed and the council did not take a recorded final vote during this session. Any later action (map amendment, formal rezoning vote, or conditions acceptance) would be reflected in subsequent council minutes.