Planning commission recommends R-20 conservation rezoning for age‑restricted community near East Cherokee Drive

The Cherokee County Planning Commission recommended approval of a rezoning to R‑20 conservation for an 88.1‑acre proposal by EC New Vision LLC to build an age‑restricted conservation community along East Cherokee Drive, saying the application includes conditions that address stormwater, a deteriorating dam and road access.

The recommendation, made at the commission's April joint public hearing, moves the application to the County Commission with the panel's 11 conditions from the applicant plus required stormwater and transportation permit requirements. The panel voted to recommend approval by a recorded margin of 7–1.

The applicant, represented by Ethan Underwood of EC New Vision, proposed a 107‑lot age‑restricted conservation subdivision with 52 percent open space, private streets, an amenity area (including a pickleball court) and a range of home sizes the applicant said would run from about 1,500 to 4,000 square feet and price points beginning in the $600,000s. Underwood told commissioners the project would hold the same number of lots as the site's current entitlement (107) but concentrate development on the interior, expand contiguous exterior buffers in many places and require a homeowners…