The McDonough city council considered two residential rezoning requests during its meeting on Monday, April 19. The council approved projects known as Symphony Park behind Lake Dow Publix and new apartments near South Point.
Symphony Park
The rezoning request for Symphony Park was submitted in March 2019, but delayed during the pandemic. The property consists of 107 +/- acres located behind (south of) Publix at Lake Dow. Vehicle access will be from the shopping center driveway (existing signal with Lake Dow Road) and Travis Drive.
Blue River Development of Cumming, GA proposes a total of 484 units. They include the following:
- 250 apartment units
- 181 single-family lots
- 53 townhomes
During negotiations for the request, the applicant agreed to contribute $100,000 towards intersection improvements at Racetrack Road and Travis Drive. They will also delay the first certificate of occupancy until late 2022, and multifamily units until 2023. Finally, they increased the single-family lots from 50’ wide to 60’ wide. This resulted in both larger lots and a reduction of fifteen lots.
The council voted 4-2 in favor to approve the request. Council members Roger Pruitt and Ben Pruett voted against the request; councilwoman Vincent was absent.
SR 81 at South Point Blvd
In a second request, The Residential Group was given approval for their apartment complex at the intersection of state route 81 and South Point Blvd. The 36 +/- acre property is located west of Sons Honda dealership.
The project includes five acres of road frontage set aside for future commercial development. The remaining 31 acres will be an apartment complex. The apartments will have gated access with two entrances — one each from state route 81 and Sons Drive.
The Residential Group plans to build 378 units on the property. They include a majority one and two-bedroom units. Zoning conditions limit three-bedroom units to no more than five percent and prohibit four-bedroom units.
In addition, the applicant agreed to pay for a traffic signal at SR 81 and South Point Blvd (if warranted). Since the intersection is on a state highway, Georgia DOT must approve all improvement plans.
There are no plans to widen SR 81 in the vicinity of the project, but other improvements are underway. Installing a diverging diamond interchange is presently under construction at the interstate exit.
The complex will be the third apartment units off South Point Blvd, and second new project in three years. Columns at South Point was rezoned in December 2019 and is now under construction.
The city council voted 5-1 to approve the request. Councilman Ben Pruett voted in opposition.
Featured image shows concept layout for Symphony Park. Blue River Development photo. Editor’s note: an earlier version of the article listed R. Pruitt as voting against the second request. It has been corrected to B. Pruett.
Be the first to comment