DeKalb County plan commission recommends rezoning of Auburn property owned by Robert and Theresa Craft

At a special meeting July 7, the DeKalb County Plan Commission voted to recommend that county commissioners approve a zone map amendment for roughly 7.328 acres at 3295 County Road 52 in Auburn, changing the parcels from I‑2 (low‑intensity industrial) to RE (rural estate).

County planning staff told the commission the application combines two adjacent parcels so they would share the same zoning designation. Staff said about 5.11 acres were zoned I‑2 and about 1.91 acres were already zoned RE. The staff presentation noted the rezoning traces to a zoning map change adopted when the county’s Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) took effect on Jan. 1, 2009, and that the county’s future land‑use map is advisory rather than regulatory. Planning staff also explained that Auburn maintains a 300‑foot extraterritorial jurisdiction along a sewer line adjacent to County Road 52, which can affect how properties with city sewer are handled.

“Changing it from I‑2 to RE makes sense, especially for properties where mortgages and refinances are difficult if they are not zoned correctly,” county planning staff said, explaining the practical difference between I‑2 (which permits light industrial and manufacturing uses) and RE (intended for single‑family residential use).

Robert “Bob” Craft, one of the property owners listed on petition 26‑28, told the commission he discovered the 2009 zoning change only when he tried to obtain a home‑equity line of credit. He told the commission the industrial zoning label made it difficult to sell or secure mortgages on several homes along County Road 31 and County Road 52 and that he believes property owners were not notified about the 2009 rezoning. “I ran into this when I went to get a HELOC loan and the appraiser said, ‘well, they can’t value the home because it’s industrial,’” Craft said, urging the commission to address all affected properties.

Planning staff responded that the record for this application included the required legal notice published in the Star, the publisher’s affidavit, and a certificate of mailing with receipts, and staff presented non‑objection letters from the County Health Department, the County Highway Department, the DeKalb County Soil and Water Conservation District and the county surveyor.

After staff read the required UDO and statutory findings — including compatibility with current conditions, desirable use, property‑value conservation and responsible development — a plan commission member moved to forward a favorable recommendation on petition 26‑28 to the DeKalb County Commissioners. The motion was seconded and passed on a unanimous roll‑call vote recorded by the clerk; the clerk recorded nine affirmative responses.

The recommendation is advisory: the DeKalb County Commissioners will consider the rezoning petition next. The plan commission announced no conditions on its favorable recommendation and set no immediate amendments to the petition. The plan commission adjourned and noted its next meeting on July 15.

Clarifying details recorded in the meeting: the application filing date was 06/08/2026; the property address is 3295 County Road 52, Auburn; acreage cited by staff was 7.328 acres; staff waived the $500 filing fee for the petitioner in this instance; and staff said it may undertake broader, staff‑initiated rezones for similar parcels after outstanding procedural matters (a temporary data‑center moratorium) are resolved.