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LPA approves parking variance for proposed retail at SR 121 and County Road 23C; Board of Commissioners must give final approval
Summary
The Baker County Land Planning Agency approved a request for a parking reduction for a proposed retail building (property owned by Lisa Jones) at the northwest corner of State Road 121 and County Road 23C. Staff recommended approval based on a submitted parking study and precedent from similar developments; county code requires the Board of County
The Baker County Land Planning Agency on July 10 approved a variance request that reduces required parking for a proposed retail building on a 2+-acre parcel owned by Lisa Jones at the northwest corner of State Road 121 and County Road 23C.
Planning Director (staff) explained county parking standards typically require five parking spaces per 1,000 square feet of building area. Based on the proposed building size, that standard would generate a requirement of about 52.5 parking spaces. The applicant requested a reduction of roughly 19.5 spaces, leaving 33 spaces in the proposed lot. The developer provided a parking study with examples of similar retail sites, and the director said those comparable layouts support the reduced count; she also noted that most recent county retail developments of this type had sought parking variances.
"With these types of variances, code does state that the Board of County Commissioners has to be final approval of the modification," the Planning Director said, and staff recommended approval by the LPA so the item can move forward to the commissioners for final action. Agency members discussed adding a review of parking standards to the county comprehensive plan update so future requests could be considered more consistently.
After a brief discussion the board moved and seconded to approve the parking-variance request; the chair announced the motion carried. The director said that, upon final action by the Board of County Commissioners, a development plan consistent with the approved parking outcome would be submitted for staff review.
The variance packet included a parking study with four comparable sites (several located in Georgia) and a proposed site layout illustrating the building and the 33-space parking configuration. Board members urged staff to add a comprehensive-plan agenda item to review parking standards and to consider categorizing retail types more explicitly in future code updates.
