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Developer seeks approval to modify zoning condition to allow private gated streets in planned Knoxbridge subdivision
Summary
Bridgetown Development asked the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners to modify a zoning condition for a 73-acre, R-30 conservation subdivision off Knoxbridge Highway so that streets planned within the subdivision may be private and gated rather than public.
Planning staff told the Board of Commissioners the applicant, listed as Doug Patton for Bridgetown Development Inc., is requesting a modification to the zoning conditions attached to a 2021 rezoning (R-30) for roughly 73 acres near Knoxbridge Highway. The original approval included a condition stating streets shall be public and built to 24 feet back-of-curb to back-of-curb. The applicant asks the board to modify that condition to allow private gated streets instead.
Staff explained the intent from the applicant’s perspective was always to have private gated streets and that the requirement for public streets appears to have been a drafting inconsistency in the condition. Planning staff said the proposed private streets would still be constructed to the county’s standards—24-foot paved sections with curb and gutter and sidewalks—and noted county transportation engineering (Brett Buchanan) had no objection to the request. The transcript records engineering staff confirming that private streets built to county standards can be accepted later for county maintenance if they meet the standards and, if acceptance occurs later, the gate would be removed at that time.
The board discussed the procedural steps required: modifying the existing zoning condition and addressing the Article 5 requirement (Section 5.5) that authorizes private streets, which requires board approval. Planning staff noted that older private streets the county has inherited were not necessarily built to current standards, but the county’s newer policy requires private streets to be built to county standards if they are to be taken over in the future.
No final vote on the modification was recorded in the work session; the request was presented for public hearing and consideration on the evening agenda.
Ending: Planning staff recommended the board consider the two-part action—modify the condition to allow private streets and approve or deny Article 5 Section 5.5 for private streets—at the public hearing. Staff said they had contacted the county transportation engineer and did not anticipate technical objections.
