Commissioners approve four‑lot Atlanta Highway rezoning with conditions on renderings and minimum sizes

The Barrow County Board of Commissioners approved Rezone 2024‑036, rezoning approximately 5.38 acres along Atlanta Highway to R‑1 single‑family residential and granting a variance to portions of the highway corridor overlay for four proposed lots, subject to added conditions requiring substantial compliance with the presented house renderings.

Zach Garrett, the surveyor and designer for the applicant, described the submitted house plan and noted the packet showed a 3,400 square‑foot plan; owner Dimitri Stenica told commissioners he intends to build higher‑end homes. "We wanna build, like, nice luxury custom homes," Stenica said, outlining expectations that homes on the four lots will range between about 3,400 and 4,000 square feet. Commissioners debated whether to attach a numerical minimum heated‑square‑footage condition; after discussion they required substantial compliance with the renderings and included a minimum heated square footage condition for the lots.

Commissioner (speaker 4) moved a motion tying approval to several conditions: minimum landscaping/sod in disturbed yards, specified exterior materials, substantial compliance with renderings (including side‑entry garages/turnarounds), and a minimum heated square footage for units on the four lots. Staff confirmed that side‑entry garages and turnarounds would help address traffic and sight‑distance concerns along the state route. The motion carried.

The board asked staff to continue coordinating with the state DOT for intersection and corridor issues during later design and construction stages. The approval advances the subdivision toward platting and permitting under the conditions the commissioners set.