Commission approves warehouse conditional use on Cowart Avenue with strict conditions after neighbor concerns

The Greater Lowndes Planning Commission recommended approval, by a 9‑1 vote, of a Conditional Use Permit to allow a freestanding 4,320‑square‑foot warehouse at 421 Cowart Avenue to store equipment for PowerHouse Outdoor Equipment, subject to nine conditions intended to limit visual impacts and intensity.

Planner Amy Martin described the property as a 0.40‑acre vacant lot located a block or two off a major corridor and noted that the surrounding context includes professional offices and a nursing home. Because a freestanding warehouse is considered an industrial use under the zoning code, the request required case‑by‑case review. Martin presented draft conditions that would: restrict the use to a single storage building not to exceed 4,400 square feet and limited to accessory storage for the Bemiss Road business; prohibit any outdoor storage of vehicles, equipment or materials; restrict signage to small incidental building signs as approved by the Zoning Administrator; limit loading and other site activity to 7 a.m.–7 p.m. Monday–Saturday; require a minimum 6‑foot opaque fence and specific landscaped buffers; require concrete batten siding on street‑facing walls; and set a two‑year expiration if no building permit is issued.

During the public hearing applicant representatives (Bill Kent and David Frazier) described the proposal as a way to move inventory indoors and reduce an "unsightly" amount of outdoor storage at the existing Bemiss Road site. Nearest neighbor Demaris Bradford opposed the request, saying an industrial appearance would be "detrimental" and incompatible with surrounding medical uses. Commissioner Franklin Bailey asked whether the west wall could be concrete rather than metal; the applicant agreed to concrete siding on all sides. Commissioner Ed Hightower moved to recommend approval with the nine listed conditions and all siding to be concrete; Commissioner Bailey seconded and the motion carried 9‑1 (Commissioner Calvin Graham opposed).

The conditions intended to reduce potential negative impacts on adjacent properties will be enforced at permitting and include required landscaping, an opaque fence, and limits on outdoor storage and hours of operation.