Board corrects zoning record, approves private gated streets for Bridgetown subdivision

The Cherokee County Board of Commissioners on March 18 approved two motions to modify a prior zoning condition for the Bridgetown subdivision and to permit private, gated streets in the development.

The applicant's representative asked that a 2021 zoning condition that required "public streets 24 feet in width from back of curb to back of curb" be corrected to read private gated streets. Commissioners voted to amend the recorded condition and then separately approved the request to allow private streets under Article 5 of the county's zoning ordinance. Both motions were approved unanimously.

Zoning administrator Thomas Traylor described the request as a two‑part item: first, to modify the recorded condition from "public streets" to "private streets," and second, to approve private gated streets under the ordinance. He said the private streets would still be required to meet county standards, including a 50‑foot right‑of‑way, curb and gutter, sidewalk and specified pavement requirements.

Developer representative Doug Patton told the board the development was always intended to have private streets. "When this was presented and we negotiated this project in 2021 . . . the presentation that we presented the entire time actually depicted a divided entrance with a place for a gated keypad entry," Patton said, adding that an engineering reconfiguration during permitting altered a small graphic and the zoning condition was recorded with the word "public" in error. Patton said the project will be built to the same construction standards originally agreed upon.

Commission action

- Motion 1 (modify recorded condition): Motion by Commissioner Carter, second by Commissioner West, to replace the recorded wording requiring public streets with wording requiring private gated streets in the Bridgetown (Case No. 2021‑12 as cited in the record) zoning stipulation. Motion carried unanimously.

- Motion 2 (approve use of private streets): Motion by Commissioner Carter, second by Commissioner West, to approve private streets in the Bridgetown subdivision per Article 5 of the Cherokee County Zoning Ordinance. Motion carried unanimously.

Traylor and the applicant confirmed that private streets would be constructed to county standards and permitted as a private gated community; the modification removes the county's maintenance obligation for those streets and allows the developer to install a gate and related private infrastructure.