Residents may remember a rezoning request west of the intersection of Jonesboro Road and McCullough Road that appeared before the zoning advisory board in January 2018. At that time, the 159.10 +/- acre tract was proposed to become a combination of commercial and office space, mixed use commercial and residential buildings, age-restricted quadraplexes, and single-family residential lots in two separate rezoning requests. The proposal has been combined into one request, to rezone property from RA (residential agricultural) to RS (residential suburban), and will be presented to the Henry County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday, April 16, at 6:30 pm. Meetings are held at the Henry County Administration Building at 140 Henry Parkway in McDonough.
The applicant, Hybrass Properties of Conyers, GA, is proposing 371 single-family residential lots and 20 multifamily dwelling units for the subject property. All commercial and office uses have been removed from the project. Additionally, the applicant has removed the age-restricted requirement within the quadraplexes.
The RS (residential suburban) zoning district allows minimum single-family lot sizes of 7,260 square feet. This is the smallest single-family lot size found within unincorporated Henry County zoning districts. Minimum home size is required to meet 1,800 square feet.
The property is designated for medium density residential development on the county’s 2040 future land use map, supporting up to six dwelling units per net acre, so the request is therefore supported by the current comprehensive land use plan. Previously, the applicant had requested comprehensive land use plan amendments based on the 2030 map, but that amendment is no longer necessary to support the developer’s proposal.
The property is located within the highway corridor overlay regulating certain building standards for the development. Henry County planning staff recommend approval of the rezoning request with the following conditions:
- The owner / developer shall coordinate with Georgia DOT to preserve right-of-way for the upcoming widening project as well as to determine locations for the development’s access to Jonesboro Road.
- Setbacks shall be based upon the preserved right-of-way.
When the project was first presented to the zoning advisory board last year, the primary concern from nearby residents involved school impacts and traffic impacts. Georgia case law does not permit the board of commissioners to utilize either reason as justification to deny the rezoning request.
Georgia DOT has a project planned to widen Jonesboro Road to four lanes between I-75 in McDonough and US 19 / 41 in Lovejoy. Construction for that project is currently budgeted to start in 2035.
Henry County Schools uses the education SPLOST program to construct new classroom capacity and residents will next vote to consider renewing the program in 2021. Improvements of some form, either a new high school or additional classrooms at existing facilities, will likely be included to address the student population at Dutchtown High School. DHS is presently the most populated high school within the county.
Residents with questions or concerns are encouraged to either contact their county commissioner or attend Tuesday’s meeting about the project. Though approval of the request is likely in some fashion, potential improvements could include an increase in the minimum home size or changing the project to the R-5 zoning district to increase the lot size reducing the number of units.
