Hall County planners table McGeever Road rezoning after applicant agrees to revised site plan

Hall County Planning Commission on Monday voted to table a rezoning request for 5709 McGeever Road so the applicant can supply a revised site plan showing transitional buffers, amended parking and clarified hours of operation.

The item, brought as old business, asked to rezone a 6.38-acre parcel from Agricultural Residential-1 (AR-1) to a Planned Commercial Development with uses the applicant described as a grocery, convenience store, office and later-phase car wash, self-storage and restaurant. Planning staff recommended approval subject to five conditions.

Applicant Mushtaq Musa, who identified himself as living in Roswell, presented a two‑phase project: phase one would include a roughly 10,000-square-foot grocery, a 2,400-square-foot office and a 6,000-square-foot retail/convenience building on septic until sewer is available; phase two would add a car wash, climate-controlled storage and a restaurant. Musa said the site plan anticipates a future roundabout at the McGeever Road/Lights Ferry Road intersection and that landscaping and brick facades were planned for the project.

A nearby resident, Eric Linton of 6086 Lights Ferry Road, spoke in opposition and asked for protections against stormwater runoff, light spillover and late-night activity. Musa and staff said the property would drain to an on-site detention pond designed through standard hydrology studies, that the county’s Gateway Corridor Overlay District requires non-spill downward-directed lighting, and that the applicant would limit hours of operation. Musa confirmed the car wash would operate 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.; the convenience store and grocery were proposed to operate roughly 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. He said climate-controlled storage is typically accessible 24 hours but that the applicant was open to limits if the commission wished; later in the discussion the applicant agreed to consider storage access hours and rental terms that can restrict after-hours access by controlling electronic access codes.

Commissioners and staff raised additional requirements the applicant must show on a revised site plan: a 25-foot transitional buffer around most of the perimeter (excluding road frontage), identification of Gateway Corridor Overlay District sign standards and location/quantity of proposed signage, and removal or relocation of parking spaces between the principal buildings and right-of-way. Staff said the parcel currently shows the required number of parking spaces but is amenable to a reduction if the parking along McGeever Road and Lights Ferry Road is removed and those spaces are accommodated elsewhere on site.

Chairman and staff confirmed the applicant will return with an amended site plan for the March 17 Planning Commission meeting; that revised plan must be submitted in time for staff review ahead of the meeting to allow the commission to forward a recommendation to the Board of Commissioners for its March 27 hearing.

The commission made and adopted a motion to table the item to March 17, 2025. No final rezoning decision was made Monday; further action will depend on the revised site plan and staff review.