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Hoschton holds public hearings on two rezoning requests; staff recommends denial for PUD condition change
Summary
Hoschton City held public hearings on Z-25-05 (Ash Patel's request to revert a 1.38-acre parcel from C-3 back to mixed-use) and Z-25-06 (a PUD change asking to allow 42 model homes before final plat). City planner recommended approval for Z-25-05 but recommended denial for Z-25-06; the applicant said model homes speed development and committed to continued discussion with city staff.
Hoschton City held two public hearings on rezoning matters during its council meeting. The first, Z-25-05, involved an application from Ash Patel to rezone Parcel H02051B (1.38 acres) from C-3 (commercial, limited to a car wash under prior conditions) back to MU (mixed use). Planner Rich told the council staff recommends approval of that request.
The second hearing, Z-25-06, asked the council to change PUD conditions to allow 42 model homes to be constructed before the final plat is recorded. Planner Rich said staff interprets the code as not allowing model-home construction before final plat and recommended denial. "By code, staff interprets that as not being allowed. We recommend denial," Rich said.
Shane Lanham, speaking for the applicant and the developer Rockland, argued the change would allow model homes that enable prospective buyers to tour product lines and would speed construction timelines. Lanham acknowledged the request opens a broader legislative zoning action and said the applicant was willing to discuss other conditions, land dedications and timing with the city. "We would love the change in conditions to model homes without having to renegotiate all the zoning conditions over again," Lanham said, adding that water lines and some fire hydrants were already installed and that the applicant planned to meet with the fire department.
Councilmembers and staff pressed practical questions: how permitting would work without recorded legal lots, how long final-plat review typically takes (estimates given in the hearing ranged from about 45 to 90 days), how addressing/GIS and emergency response would be handled, and whether opening the PUD would reopen discussion of other conditions previously negotiated (land dedications for a school site, a police/fire/EMS site and a civic gathering space totalling roughly 19–24 acres across the original zoning). Lanham said the applicant was open to follow-up design options and to working with the city's GIS and fire departments to address emergency response and addressing.
No final council votes on either rezoning were recorded in the public transcript. The hearings closed after public testimony and staff discussion; council next steps were not specified in the public record provided.
