Commission recommends light-industrial zoning for Latimer Properties with mixed votes on variances and conditions for road improvements

The commission recommended approval of a rezoning request from Latimer Properties LLC to reclassify about 12.7 acres near Ball Ground Highway and Faulkner Lane to light industrial (LI) and general commercial (GC), but split its decisions on five concurrent variance requests.

Staff presented case 2504008 and described a project that would place about 152,000 square feet of industrial space and 15,000 square feet of commercial space on the site, serve the buildings with two entrances on Faulkner Lane, and include parking and loading areas. The application asked for five variances: reduce the Ball Ground Highway front setback from 75 to 50 feet; eliminate an internal GC/L I buffer; allow disturbance and replanting of an external 50-foot buffer; eliminate required deceleration lanes on Faulkner Lane; and reduce intersection spacing from the required 250 feet to 234 feet for an entrance on Ball Ground Highway.

Applicant representative Melissa Castile described architectural concepts and said the developer plans to renovate the existing commercial building at the corner and to plant or retain vegetation for screening. Latimer representatives said the site’s geometry and a cell tower constraint guided building placement and that construction would include frontage widening of Faulkner Lane.

Neighbors asked how truck traffic would use the narrow Faulkner Lane and whether water lines and private drives would be affected. A nearby resident urged protection for a residential buffer and expressed concern about heavy truck turns on a narrow road used by school buses.

Board actions split on the variances: commissioners voted to deny the front-setback reduction (75-to-50) but recommended approval of the other four variance requests (internal buffer elimination, disturbance/replant and replanting of external buffers, elimination of deceleration lanes on Faulkner Lane, and reduced intersection spacing). The rezoning recommendation was approved with conditions that incorporate the county transportation department’s seven items and additional engineering recommendations and require coordination on right-of-way and a traffic study response.

Thomas Triwicoy, county planning staff, and applicant representatives said in the public hearing that Faulkner Lane is scheduled to be widened along the development frontage and that mitigation measures in the traffic study would be addressed during permitting.

Next steps: the recommendation and the record, including the traffic study and proposed conditions, will be forwarded to the Cherokee County Commission for final action. If approved, the applicant must follow county engineering, stormwater, and transportation conditions before building permits or land-disturbance permits are issued.