Planning commission recommends denying rezoning for proposed self-storage at 751 Harry McCarty Road

The Barrow County Planning Commission on Jan. 16 recommended denying an applicant’s request to amend the county’s future land use map and rezone roughly 8.38 acres at 751 Harry McCarty Road to C-3 to permit a climate-controlled self-storage facility.

Applicant Stanton Porter told the commission the parcel had recently been de-annexed from the City of Winder and that the property is not in the Highway Corridor Overlay because the closest corner is more than 750 feet from SR 316. He described a split-grade building design and asked for a variance to allow what would technically be a second story because of the site slope. Porter said the project is designed to provide a buffer between existing industrial M-1 zoning, a proposed townhome development and adjacent R-1 residences, and that the concept plan shows a 50-foot landscape buffer. "June of last year, it was successfully de annexed," Porter said, describing the property’s return to county jurisdiction.

Commissioners pressed the applicant on topography and how the second-story appearance might be visible from the subdivision below; a committee member observed that without leaves a two-story face could be seen from the lower side of the property. Commissioners and staff also confirmed that the R-1 edge requires a 50-foot undisturbed buffer while AG-adjacent buffers are 25 feet. One commissioner moved to approve with staff recommendations plus an added condition requiring restoration of vegetative buffering if natural vegetation were removed; that motion failed. Another commissioner then moved to deny all three staff recommendations; the motion passed. The board noted that the Barrow County Board of Commissioners will make the final decision at its Feb. 11 meeting.

The commission’s action was a recommendation only; the county commissioners will consider the matter at their next meeting.