Cherokee County planning staff, applicant ask to continue rezoning hearing for Ball Ground Business Park to allow revised site plan and traffic study

The Cherokee County Commission and Planning Commission on a February 2025 joint public hearing voted to continue consideration of a rezoning request for a 69-acre property at 13450 East Cherokee Drive so the applicant can revise its site plan and prepare a traffic study.

Planning staff said the property, presented as Case 2500Two-three, is currently split-zoned O&I and R-80 and that the applicant, Ball Ground Business Park LLC, asked to rezone the site to industrial uses. Staff described site constraints, including a stream with floodplain and stream buffers, proximity to the Pine Bluff Landfill and a wastewater treatment plant, and access on East Cherokee Drive and Coker's Chapel Road.

The continuance was requested because the applicant intends to revise the concept plan and provide a traffic study; the commission voted to table the matter until an additional public hearing set for April 1, 2025. Chair said, "I'll make a motion to table it until the April meeting." Adam Rosen, representing the applicant, said the applicant is revising the prior plan and "we ask to be heard in April." Planning staff advised the revised plan and traffic study would be advertised and distributed to interested parties.

Why it matters: the site adjoins residential zoning and county-designated rural land-use areas, and planning staff noted county standards that favor locating primary industrial access on arterial or state highways rather than county collectors. Staff recommended, should the commission favor approval, a condition prohibiting industrial access to Coker's Chapel Road to limit impacts on the local street network.

Planning staff outlined the proposal and constraints. Staff reported the applicant currently proposes a 20,000-square-foot multipurpose building with 76 parking spaces, served by a 24-foot driveway aligned across from Craft Trail (the primary entrance to Pine Bluff Landfill). The property contains a stream that carries a typical 75-foot impervious setback (including a 50-foot undisturbed buffer), which will limit buildable area. Transportation staff noted the driveway will be designed to Cherokee County standard detail 2-10, which could require a deceleration lane and possibly a left-turn lane. Cherokee County Water and Sewer Authority told staff the parcel is on septic but has access to water.

A nearby resident, Ken Keating, spoke in opposition to allowing industrial or commercial vehicle traffic onto local roads. "We can't be dumping traffic, commercial traffic on Coker's Chapel," Keating said, and he urged the commission to consider existing truck restrictions on portions of East Cherokee Drive. Planning staff reminded speakers who are opposing an application and are not the applicant that a campaign disclosure form is required for public-commenters in opposition; forms were available outside the meeting.

Staff noted the parcel's prior zoning history: on Nov. 3, 2020 the Board of Commissioners approved a rezoning of the subject property from agricultural to O&I and R-80 for 11 residential lots and a 10,000-square-foot educational or institutional building, with a condition that there be no interparcel access between the two uses. That history informed staff concern about introducing industrial uses adjacent to existing residential areas.

The commission voted to continue the public hearing to allow the applicant to submit a revised site plan and a traffic study and for the county to re-advertise the hearing. The commission set the next public hearing for April 1, 2025. No final rezoning decision was made at the February hearing; the matter remains pending further submittal and public input.

Votes at a glance: The commission voted to table/continue the public hearing to April 1, 2025; the motion passed on a voice vote. The record did not include a roll-call tally for individual commissioners.

Next steps: staff and the applicant will distribute revised plans and the traffic study to interested parties and re-advertise the matter for the April public hearing. Planning staff recommended a potential condition of approval limiting industrial access to Coker's Chapel Road if the commission ultimately approves a rezoning.