Franklin County commission upholds planning denial of rezoning for 12.646-acre Greenhall Road parcel

The Franklin County Commission on Tuesday upheld a planning-and-zoning panel's denial of a rezoning request for a 12.646-acre parcel on Greenhall Road after a public hearing and no motion to overturn the earlier decision.

At the meeting, the commission’s presiding official read the agenda item: a request to rezone the property from agricultural to R-1 (single-family residential), listed on county records as map number 57, 1st 43, with the applicant shown as Alicia Putnam and Ridge Farms LLC noted as the property owner. Travis Perus, who said he purchased the property, told the commission he seeks R-1 zoning to build “about 12 to 15 houses” of roughly “1,200 to 1,500 square feet.” Perus said a six-inch water line and a fire hydrant are on the site and that preliminary inquiries indicated sufficient water line size for those house types.

The matter drew comments from a resident who said the county growth plan finalized in 2009–2010 designates the area as rural and that planning and zoning rejected the rezoning request based on that growth plan. The resident said residents in the area opposed the rezoning at the planning-and-zoning hearing.

Planning-and-zoning staff explained zoning differences if the property remains agricultural: agriculture zoning requires a minimum lot size of one-half acre, while R-1 zoning requires a minimum lot size of 20,000 square feet. Staff also said the parcel could be divided under current agricultural rules into multiple tracts (staff answered that the parcel “could be divided into six tracts”). Staff noted that their office checks line sizes and locations with the water department but does not perform pressure or volume tests.

After public comment and staff input, the presiding official asked for a motion to overturn the planning-and-zoning decision and approve rezoning to R-1. No commissioner moved to overturn. The presiding official said that, without a motion, the planning-and-zoning decision stands; the denial was therefore upheld by lack of a motion.

The discussion focused on the growth-plan designation and utility capacity as limiting factors cited by planning and zoning and members of the public. The commission did not take further action on the rezoning request at that meeting.