New townhomes proposed along SR 20/81 in McDonough

Area map showing the location of the Hampton Street Townhomes project
Map showing location of Hampton Street Townhomes
Hampton Street Townhomes project is shown in red outline. (McDonough photo)

Update: the Hampton Street Townhomes are scheduled before the McDonough city council on Monday, March 18, at 6 pm. A public hearing will be held to provide residents a chance to speak prior to the council making a decision on the requested rezoning and variances.

A new rezoning request within McDonough is requesting 8.92 acres to be rezoned from R-85 (single family residential) to RTD (residential townhome district). The property is located at 235 Hampton Street, also known as state route 20/81, and has rear frontage along Bridges Road.

The applicant’s site plan includes seventy-one proposed townhomes. This calculates to a density of 7.96 units per acre, whereas the zoning code allows a maximum of 8 units per acre within the RTD class.

Site Plan for Hampton Street Townhomes
Site Plan for Hampton Street Townhomes (McDonough photo)

The applicant has also requested a number of variances. If granted by the city council, a variance allows the developer to provide less than what’s required by city code.

The requested variances are:

  1. To allow the development to be owned and units sold/rented by a management company, rather than single family owned residences required by the zoning code. this variance has been modified: To allow the development to utilize private streets in a gated development, rather than the public streets required by the zoning code.
  2. To allow one car garages for each unit, rather than the two car garage required by the zoning code.
  3. To reduce the front setback to seven feet to maximize open space, rather than the minimum front yard of twenty feet required by the zoning code.
  4. To reduce the minimum heated square footage of each unit to 1,000 square feet for one bedroom and 1,200 sq. ft. for two bedrooms, rather than the 1,200 square feet for one bedroom and 1,300 sq. ft. for two bedrooms required by the zoning code.
  5. To reduce the setback along Bridges Road to twenty feet, rather than the thirty foot setback from public right of way required by the zoning code.

It is worth noting that the development’s concept plan only has one entrance / exit. A public safety emergency access point is included along Bridges Road; improving that access into a second entrance could reduce left-hand turning delays along SR 20 / 81 when residents exit the development.

The city council’s workshop session on Thursday, September 6, at 6:00 pm, held the first read of this request. The case has been postponed multiple times and will have a public hearing on Monday, December 10, at 6:00 pm. Meetings take place at McDonough City Hall and are open to the public.

About Clayton 1739 Articles
Clayton Carte is the founder and owner of The Henry Reporter. He founded the site in 2017 to highlight transportation projects. Over time, he began covering other topics like new development so residents can best know what’s happening in our community.

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply