Hall County approves warehouse and industrial rezonings, including 162,000 sq ft warehouse on Gainesville Highway

The Hall County Board of Commissioners on May 28 approved multiple land-use requests that will permit industrial and warehouse development in two county corridors.

At 866 Gainesville Highway (15.32 acres), the board approved rezoning from AR-1 (agricultural/residential) to I-1 (light industrial) and a variance to Gateway Corridor Overlay standards to allow parking between the building and the road. Tyler Lasser of LJA Engineering, representing the applicant (Taylor and Mathis), described a proposed approximately 162,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution facility and said the project includes a 75-foot vegetated buffer (25 feet more than the code requirement), detention facilities and other measures intended to minimize impacts on the nearby residential lots. “We thought it was appropriate to provide that additional 25 feet. We want to be good neighbors here,” Lasser said.

Separately, the board approved a three-part application on Lanier Islands Parkway (5989 Lanier Islands Parkway) from Benjie Wood/AL Grading Contractors: rezoning an ~8.08-acre tract from AR-1 to I-1, a special use permit for outdoor storage within the Gateway Corridor Overlay District, and variances to allow gravel surfacing in parts of the outdoor storage area and parking between the building and road. Shane Lanham, representing the applicant, said the proposal includes a modest office component, a shop and storage yard and that the applicant would accept additional zoning conditions such as enhanced landscaping and an eight-foot privacy screening fence. Lanham told the board the applicant would be willing to pave areas if the board required it and agreed to additional screening conditions.

Staff recommended approval of the rezoning and special use permits while recommending denial of some variances where hardship criteria were not met; in each case the board approved the zoning actions with specified conditions and found the proposed projects consistent with the county’s future land use designations for the corridors. Motions to approve passed on voice votes; no public opposition was recorded for either application at the hearing.

County staff said utilities for the Gainesville Highway project will be provided by the City of Buford and that the Lanier Islands Parkway project will rely on city water and on-site septic, with stormwater detention designed to meet runoff requirements. Board members praised applicants for agreeing to additional screening and landscaping conditions designed to reduce visual and noise impacts on nearby residents.