Planning commission approves rezoning at 2811 Athens Highway, limits outdoor storage

Hall County Planning Commission on Jan. 20 approved a request to rezone 21.21 acres at 2811 Athens Highway from Agricultural Residential (AR-1) to a Planned Industrial Development and recommended conditions for site design and material standards.

The action matters because the change would allow heavy-industrial uses on a site adjacent to existing industrial parcels and within the county—s Gateway Corridor Overlay District; commissioners attached material, buffering and operational conditions intended to limit visual and noise impacts on nearby residences.

Planner Katie Greenway told commissioners staff recommended denial of the rezoning but provided 10 conditions commissioners could adopt if they chose approval. Applicant representative James Urban of Foothills Land Design said the applicant had removed an earlier-proposed transfer station and is proposing an enclosed building for Dunnigan Welding and associated outdoor storage for roll-off containers. "There will no longer be a transfer station," Urban said, and "all the welding activities should be done inside the proposed building." The applicant also told the commission they would accept staff-recommended conditions.

Commissioners voted to approve the rezoning as a Planned Industrial Development with conditions including: development according to the site plan and narrative (dated Jan. 3, 2025); Georgia Department of Transportation-approved access with developer-funded improvements; building exteriors clad with brick, stucco or split-face block veneer on all four sides (with stucco/ split-face not to exceed 50% of each side); no outdoor grinding/crushing; a 25-foot undisturbed buffer adjacent to Athens Highway supplemented with evergreen plantings; compliance with the Unified Development Code and review agencies; and a 50-foot transitional buffer along property boundaries except where right-of-way buffers already exist. The motion was made and seconded; the commission approved 1(a).

The commission considered a separate request (item 1b) to allow outdoor storage and a gravel surface for portions of the site. After discussion about visibility from U.S. 129 and nearby residential properties, commissioners divided the request. They approved a 160-by-160-foot outdoor storage area east of the building (the area farthest from U.S. 129) to be gravel-paved so long as it met Gateway Corridor Overlay requirements; they denied a larger outdoor storage area on the northern portion of the property and denied gravel surfacing for that area. The approvals and denials will be forwarded as recommendations to the Hall County Board of Commissioners for final action at the public hearing set for Feb. 27 at 6 p.m.

Several commissioners raised questions about building dimensions, elevation drawings and screening for properties upslope of the site; staff and the applicant said final building elevations and facade materials would be subject to director-level review and that additional screening plantings and buffers would be required by condition. "Final building elevations are subject to final review and approval by the director of planning and zoning," the commission's motion stated.

The commission noted that the applicant agreed to operate welding activities inside the building and to the other conditions. The recommendations will accompany the staff report to the Board of Commissioners for final zoning action.