Planning commission recommends denial of Red Ridge PUD, citing water and traffic concerns

The Jasper City Planning Commission voted on April 20 to recommend that the City Council deny a rezoning request from Red Ridge Properties LLC that would have converted about 97.5 acres on Philadelphia Road from Residential-Agricultural (RA) to a Planned Unit Development (PUD).

The commission's recommendation follows presentations from the applicant and planning staff and more than an hour of public comment focused on the city's water-system problems, traffic on state Route 515/Philadelphia Road, school impacts and the scale of the proposed commercial component.

Corey Guthrie, a Spicer Group consultant for the owner, outlined the concept plan and emphasized phasing, preservation and entitlement as the first step. "This is a 10-year plan," Guthrie said, describing the proposal as a long-term effort that would preserve ponds and wooded areas and provide about 25% open space. He told the commission the scheme shows roughly 310 single-family homes and 52 townhomes plus about 346,000 square feet of commercial space.

Developer partner Kyle Cowan said the ownership group is family-owned and currently has no committed commercial tenants. "We are not a developer with a builder ready to go or a commercial tenant ready to go tomorrow," Cowan said, adding that entitlements would allow them to market the site and that utilities are the principal hurdle to moving forward.

Mary Elizabeth Burgess, the planning and development director for the City of Jasper, briefed the commission on zoning mechanics and the PUD rules that require a commercial-residential balance. Burgess said the project triggers a Development of Regional Impact (DRI) review because of unit count and commercial square footage and that the DRI closed recently, but agency responses had not yet been received. She described the local PUD standards, including the code-driven requirement that a project under 100 acres devote about 35% of the gross floor area to nonresidential uses in order to obtain the higher residential density sought.

Public testimony overwhelmingly urged either denial or further study. Several residents who rely on city water described low pressure or service denials; one speaker cited audit figures alleging large percentage water losses in recent years and urged the commission not to advance high-density development until water reliability is fixed. "Approving a high-density PUD on Philadelphia Road right now is like asking a heart-attack patient to run a marathon," Ryan Fountain, a candidate for the state House, told the commission, urging a full denial.

Speakers also raised traffic and safety concerns for Philadelphia Road and the 515 corridor, questioned commercial parking and access (one presentation showed a largest retail building of about 88,000 square feet) and flagged potential loss of agricultural land and impacts on school capacity. Commissioners and residents repeatedly noted that the DRI findings were not available at the hearing and said that the missing agency input made it difficult to evaluate traffic or environmental protections fully.

Commissioners ultimately moved to recommend denial. The motion passed; the commission chair noted the recommendation will be transmitted to the City Council, which is the body that must approve any rezoning. The council is scheduled to consider the matter at its May 4 meeting at 6:00 p.m. in the same chamber, the chair said.

What comes next: the commission's action is advisory. City council members will receive the planning commission's record, the applicant will have a chance to supplement the record (including DRI responses if available), and the council will vote to approve, deny or modify the rezoning request. The commission and staff emphasized that infrastructure requirements and any GDOT or DRI-mandated road improvements would be conditions for development, should the council approve an application in the future.

Why it matters: the proposed PUD would add several hundred housing units and large-scale commercial space on a 97.5-acre site inside Jasper city limits; residents and staff agree the project would create substantial demand on water, roads, schools and emergency services and that those impacts merit careful review before any rezoning is granted. The commission's recommendation to deny sends the matter to council with clear public opposition and unanswered technical reviews.