Commissioners table rezoning request for contractor yard after staff-applicant disagreement

Carroll County commissioners on July 7 voted to table a request to rezone about 4.5 acres along Highway 113 after county staff and the applicant presented different understandings of how the site would be used.

Ben Skipper, director of community development, told the board the file had been handled under the assumption that the parcel would be a temporary laydown yard tied to an Atlanta Gas Light line upgrade. "When staff met with the applicant ... it was explained to him that this would be a temporary use," Skipper said, and staff built its recommendation on that understanding.

Representing the applicant, Will Summey of Lehi Engineering said the company was requesting rezoning "to rezone 4.52 acres from commercial to industrial for the purpose of serving as a yard that would store pipe materials" and described plans for an on-site building and employee parking. Matt Wigley, identified as a regional manager for Benton, said the company aims to move a central Georgia office closer to the area to better serve projects in Carroll and neighboring counties: "We're trying to move our Georgia office ... this is the one we do all our office work and paperwork out of," he said.

Property owner Babar Khan said he had leased the site to the company, contested earlier enforcement actions and told commissioners he lost revenue during the stop-work period: "I lost $60,000 in 3 months in this process," he said.

Several commissioners said they were uncertain whether the request was intended to be temporary and tied to a specific public-utility project or to permit a permanent headquarters and outdoor storage. One commissioner noted that staff and the applicant appeared "on a totally different page," making it difficult to vote. Commissioners discussed possible stipulations — limiting the industrial zoning to the specific use, requiring screening, or tying the zoning to the particular lease or use — but county counsel noted such limitations can be difficult to enforce administratively.

Because the board did not have clear, consistent information about intent and enforceable conditions, a commissioner moved to table the rezoning for 30 days to allow staff and the applicant to clarify use, lease terms and potential safeguards; the motion passed. The clerk later noted a correction to the roll call for that vote and the chair acknowledged the floor correction for the official minutes.

Next steps: the board asked staff to gather more information, consider enforceable stipulations that could be attached to any approval, and return to the commissioners at the next meeting.