Neighbors press safety, buffer concerns as planning commission recommends approval for Moonbridge subdivision but denies frontage variance

The Planning Commission on Jan. 16 recommended approval of a rezoning for a proposed R-1 subdivision at 838 Moonbridge Road but voted to recommend denial of the applicant’s variance request for minimum road frontage.

Applicant Saeed Madhav, who said he and partner Noah Craig are local veterans and plan to live in the development, described plans for middle-class custom homes on one-acre lots and asked for a driveway easement for a back lot. Multiple neighbors raised concerns: Natalie McCall asked for buffering and larger lot sizes for the lots closest to existing homes and warned that Moonbridge is a dead-end and emergency vehicles must back out; Louis Skelton and others described narrow curves, cracking pavement and a history of vandalism and asked that the road be widened or improved. The applicant pledged to landscape, fence and plant trees to create separation and said the homes would not be mobile or low-income housing.

After discussion about lot counts (the plan reflects 16 lots) and access, a commissioner moved to recommend approval of the rezoning with staff conditions and to recommend denial of the variance for minimum road frontage; the motion passed. The recommendation will go to the Barrow County Board of Commissioners for final consideration on Feb. 11.