Woodstock council approves annexation and rezoning for 34-home Summit at Towne Lake expansion, with conditions

The City of Woodstock on Aug. 25 approved annexation, rezoning and related variances for an approximately 11.5-acre property on Putnam Ford Drive to create a 34-home expansion of the Summit at Towne Lake subdivision, with conditions intended to protect adjacent homes, storm buffers and inform buyers about an existing cell tower.

Planner Ms. Menard told the council the assemblage includes three parcels in unincorporated Cherokee County and one existing city parcel, and that the proposal would rezone the land to the city's R4 (four units per acre) designation and connect the new lots to the existing Summit HOA. The application included requests for several variances: stream-buffer work/impervious setback relief, a zoning-buffer reduction along Putnam Ford, and relief from the Land Development Ordinance requirement that new residences be set back a distance equal to the height of a nearby cell tower (about 171 feet).

The council approved annexation and rezoning and granted partial approval of the variances, following unanimous staff and planning commission recommendations but adding two changes proposed during council debate: allowing construction traffic to use Putnam Ford Drive while requiring that no residential access to Putnam Ford be established until the new Chesterfield Cove connection to the Summit neighborhood is completed; and requiring the developer to disclose the presence of the nearby cell tower in initial purchase contracts as well as in closing documents. Council members voted 3-0 with three absences.

Why it matters: The vote brings…