Planning commission approves modified rezoning to raise allowed building area to 250,000 square feet

The Oconee County Planning Commission voted to approve changes to rezoning application P260122, including raising the total allowable building area from 174,500 square feet to 250,000, and agreed to revise three conditions before the case goes to the Oconee County Board of Commissioners for final action.

Ken Bell of Bell and Company, representing Burgess Jennings Land Mill Land LLC, told the commission the increase — an additional 75,500 square feet — responds to higher-than-expected market demand and is intended to allow more flexible lot layouts and building configurations. "The demand for the space has just been much larger than anybody originally perceived it to be," Bell said.

Staff had presented the application and the existing set of conditions tied to prior rezoning cases (P240100 and P250188). Planning staff recommended conditional approval with edits to three items: reword condition 4 to link required traffic improvements and the timing of an updated traffic impact analysis (TIS) to issuance of certificates of occupancy (CO) for affected lots rather than to the submission of site development plans; strike condition 5 regarding curb-and-gutter requirements for Goddard Way frontage because it had been addressed in prior proceedings; and clarify condition 6 so the administrative plat requirement applies only to those lots proposed to be recombined.

Bell told commissioners the requested change to condition 4 is intended to let building construction and off-site road work proceed in parallel. He warned that, as written, the TIS requirement could prevent the issuance of certificates of occupancy and "hold the project up for, you know, 12 or 14 months." Planning staff said they had met with the applicant and would provide the revised wording tying required road improvements to CO issuance; staff emphasized the county will not release COs until the TIS-identified improvements are completed.

Commissioners asked practical questions about sequencing and responsibilities for site versus off-site work and about likely tenants. Bell said developers were marketing the property but had no confirmed tenants; a meeting participant representing the owner confirmed they have advertised space but have not finalized occupants.

A commissioner moved to approve the request as presented by staff with the agreed edits (strike condition 5; apply the revised timing language for condition 4 tying TIS/road improvements to CO issuance for affected lots; clarify administrative plat requirements to apply only to recombined lots). A second was given; the motion passed by hand vote among commissioners present. The commission directed staff to forward the package to the Oconee County Board of Commissioners for the board's final decision.

The approved modifications include: allowing up to 250,000 total square feet across the research-core lots; requiring that traffic improvements identified in the updated TIS be completed before certificates of occupancy are issued for the lots named in the condition; and administrative plat requirements only for the lots being recombined. Specific technical requirements in the staff conditions — such as roadway curb-and-gutter removal for condition 5 and a six-foot masonry screen wall for service areas — remain in the application packet and will be enforced per the approved conditions.

The commission adjourned after the vote; the matter will next be considered by the Oconee County Board of Commissioners.