Athens-Clarke County reviews Lakewood (Shoals) planned-development amendment proposing mixed housing, new streets and greenway

The Athens-Clarke County Mayor and Commission heard a lengthy presentation on an amended planned development for the Lakewood (referred to as “Shoals”) site on Barnett Shoals Road, a proposal that would redesign 90 acres on the south side of Deacoll Lake with a mix of housing types, public greens, and a minimum 20,000 square feet of commercial space.

City planning director Bruce Lani told commissioners the applicant seeks a single CNPD designation (commercial neighborhood planned development) replacing a patchwork of CNPD/RM1/RS‑8 designations. Lani said the submission includes a highly detailed “pattern book” that would make elements of the plan — street network, greenway alignment, building frontages and certain design standards — binding while allowing flexibility for builders within defined ranges.

The change would: create four neighborhoods (Arts & Entertainment, Central, Peninsula, Garden); require five street connections to reduce single-point traffic loads on Barnett Shoals Road; preserve fronting green space and tree-lined streets; and prohibit drive-throughs, vehicle repair, cemeteries and mortuaries within the PD. Planning staff and the Planning Commission recommended approval with conditions and supported 12 requested waiver items and a set of 14 applicant proffers, Lani said. The Planning Commission added five conditions of approval including limits on retaining wall height adjacent to rights-of-way and three EV charging stations plus three 120‑volt bike outlets in the commercial parking area.

Developers and consultants told the commission they had iterated the pattern book and plan repeatedly with staff. Scott Haines of W&A Engineering described added EV chargers and hoped to provide at least one EV charging station in each neighborhood and “outside power outlets for residences to residents to use for EV charging to the extent feasible.” Developer Jake Strickland said the proposal includes a broad mix of product types — duplexes, triplexes, quads, stacked flats, townhomes and single-family — and noted the plan adds roughly a mile of multi‑use trail that would connect to existing greenway facilities.

Commissioners pressed staff and the applicant on several practical points: traffic and right-of-way impacts on Gaines School/Barnett Shoals corridors, stormwater detention and planting allowances, retaining wall design and limits, easement recording for landlocked parcels and timing for tree and landscape installation. Lani emphasized buy-in from multiple departments and said technical comments must be resolved at plan review. The applicant agreed to record required access easements before site plan approval and to work with the ACC arborist and Transportation & Public Works on planting locations around the stormwater facility.

Commissioners and community speakers raised housing affordability concerns and the proposed product mix. Commissioner Myers said she had reviewed the pattern book in detail and described the project as a strong example of “missing-middle” housing, and also asked whether the project would include for‑rent vs. for‑sale units and price ranges; the developer said initial phases are expected to be market-rate rentals with a broad range of unit types and rents starting in the region of $1,500 for smaller units, with higher rents for larger townhomes. Commissioners requested further clarity on inclusionary strategies and on how the binding provisions would be administered across a multi‑phase, multi‑year buildout.

The Planning Commission’s vote in its report was to approve the future land use amendment and to recommend approval of the PD with the listed waivers and conditions; the Mayor and Commission did not take a final zoning vote at the agenda‑setting session. Staff described the pattern book language as intentionally tightened after many review cycles to ensure consistent administration across future builders and phases.

If approved at a future meeting, the PD would be administered via a binding plan and pattern book; several commissioners said they favored the design’s emphasis on street connections and green space but pressed for explicit mechanisms to address long-term affordability and to ensure traffic and emergency access standards were preserved.

The commission moved to other agenda items; no final Commission action on the PD was taken during the February 18 agenda‑setting session.