Commission backs comp‑plan amendment and suburban‑corridor zoning for 25‑acre Hickory Grove tract

The commission voted to recommend a comprehensive‑plan amendment and a rezoning that would prepare approximately 25 acres near Hickory Grove for future commercial and mixed‑use development.

Mia Hines, senior planner, told commissioners the proposal changes the future land‑use designation from agricultural/low residential to regional mixed use and rezones the properties from R2 to Suburban Corridor (SC). Staff recommended approval, noting the requested designations match prior entitlements in preliminary plats and the pattern of regional growth along the US‑380 corridor. Hines said the SC district is intended to allow moderate‑to‑high intensity commercial, office and retail uses oriented to major corridors.

Applicant Thomas Fletcher, representing the property owner, said preliminary utility studies and the TIA were prepared assuming commercial uses, and explained that required roadway and turn‑lane improvements were identified in existing traffic analyses. Fletcher said notifications were sent to properties within standard buffer distances and that he had not received substantive responses beyond staff’s canvass.

Commissioners approved the comprehensive‑plan amendment and the zoning change by 5–1 votes. Commissioners who supported the measures emphasized staff’s role in enforcing design and buffering standards and noted that subsequent site plans and specific use permits would be subject to public review and engineering approvals. The recommendations now advance to city council.