Council approves rezoning of 264 Marietta Highway for boarding/assisted-living use with limits

CANTON — The Canton City Council voted Feb. 5 to rezone 264 Marietta Highway from Office-Institutional (OI) to General Commercial (GC) with conditions limiting resident numbers and requiring a fence along North Etowah Street.

Community development staff (Mister Green) described the applicant’s proposal to use the property as a room-and-boarding house (room and board only; staff emphasized no medical treatments would occur on site) and recommended a set of permitted uses and conditions including a maximum of 24 residents per the applicant’s letter of intent. Staff also listed permissible uses such as office/professional, assisted-living services (including skilled nursing and life-care services) with conditional-use permit approval, daycare, funeral home and neighborhood-level retail under specified conditions.

Council member Mister Rice moved to approve the rezoning with modifications: limit occupancy to 20 residents and require a fence along the North Etowah Street connection. That motion received a second and passed on a 5–1 vote (five ayes, one nay). During discussion, council asked staff to clarify that the condition limited patient/resident counts rather than room counts, and staff confirmed council could limit total persons on site rather than number of rooms.

Council and staff also noted that the conditions were intended to reduce potential impacts on adjacent neighborhoods by restricting higher-impact GC uses and by capping occupancy. The record shows council considered letters of support and letters of concern; council members referenced the property's alignment with the Marietta Highway corridor and existing buffering such as trees and separation from residences.

Outcome: Rezoning approved with conditions including a 20-resident occupancy limit and a fence requirement; council recorded one dissenting vote.