Commission recommends rezone of 5.38 acres on Atlanta Highway NW with drainage easement and garage-turnaround conditions

The Barrow County Planning Commission recommended approval of a rezoning request to convert about 5.38 acres on Atlanta Highway NW from agricultural (AG) to R-1 single-family residential (rezone 2024-436). Applicant Zack Garrett said the parcel will be subdivided into four R-1 lots that, once split, will sit outside the highway corridor overlay distance requirement, and that proposed homes would be single-family custom houses on roughly 1.3-acre lots.

Neighbors raised concerns about traffic safety, future additional development beyond the initial four lots, soil suitability and stormwater impacts. Carol Jackson Carter and other residents said existing traffic and past accidents on nearby highways make additional access points worrisome; a neighbor also raised runoff and creek-buffer concerns. The applicant and staff responded that lot sizes meet code, that routine erosion-control measures would be used during construction and that a traffic study or GDOT review would apply where required. "The lot size is 1.3 acres," the applicant said when describing parcel sizes.

To address neighbor concerns, a commissioner moved and the commission approved a recommendation that included conditions: side-entry garages or turnarounds to avoid cars backing into the road, and a 10-foot drainage easement along lot lines to route stormwater toward the creek and away from existing neighbors. The commission's recommendation will be forwarded to the Board of Commissioners for final action on December 10.