
Several meetings are happening the week of November 18, 2024. Because of the Thanksgiving holiday, there are more meetings than usual this week. Here’s a look at upcoming meetings around Henry County.
Monday, November 18, 2024
- Locust Grove council at 6 pm
- McDonough council at 6 pm
- North Ola Road Developer town hall at 6:30 pm
Tuesday, November 19, 2024
- Henry County BOC at 6:30 pm
- Stockbridge council at 6 pm
Thursday, November 21, 2024
- Stockbridge Planning Commission at 6:30 pm
- Stockbridge Councilman Alexander town hall at 7 pm (postponed)
Subscribers can access a preview of each meeting below!
Meetings the Week of November 18, 2024
Monday, November 18
There are three meetings on Monday, November 18. They include the following:
Locust Grove Council
Locust Grove Public Safety Building at 6 pm
The meeting will start with the swearing-in of newly elected Mayor Carlos Greer and two new council members. Agenda items include discussing the council’s 2025 meeting schedule. There are no public hearing items.
View the city agenda here.
McDonough Council
McDonough City Hall at 6 pm
Agenda items include purchasing five vehicles for the police department and discussing the city’s recent class and compensation study. The council will also discuss the city’s zoning code update. The code update will soon come to a conclusion, pending the city’s approval of a new zoning code, after several years of dialogue.
Three zoning items are being removed from the agenda. First, a proposed self-storage business near Publix at Lake Dow is being withdrawn by the applicant. Next, two requests are being postponed into 2025. They include a concept plan review for a new gas station on Willow Lane. Finally, there’s an annexation application for 7 acres on Tomlinson Street. It too is being postponed.
View the city agenda here.
North Ola Road Developer Town Hall
Sharon Church (Historic Chapel) at 6:30 pm
A proposed mixed-use project is looking to build retail space and senior living homes at state route 81 and North Ola Road. The developer, Liberty Communities LLC of Stockbridge, will host a community meeting. They previously held a community meeting in January 2024.
Tuesday, November 19
There’s two meetings on Tuesday night. They are the Henry County BOC and Stockbridge. The Stockbridge council moved their meeting date because of Thanksgiving. They typically meet on the last Tuesday of each month.
Henry County Board of Commissioners
Henry County Admin Building at 6:30 pm
The county commissioners have their last regular meeting of 2024 after cancelling their December meetings. The agenda is a lengthy one. Some items include the following:
- approve the purchase of fire apparatus and ambulances at a cost of $7.5 million,
- approve hiring Cooper Carry Inc. to prepare the Atlanta Speedway and Speedway Airport area master plan at a cost of $320 thousand,
- consider renaming a portion of Peeksville Road to Roy Kuhn Drive,
- consider approving a construction change order for improvements to the North Mt. Carmel Park entrance at a cost of $634 thousand, and
- approve contracts to install new traffic lights at Jodeco and Oak Grove, and East Lake at Airline.
Rezoning Items
In addition, the county commissioners will consider several zoning items. They include the following:
- DRB Group of Fayetteville, GA requests rezoning for 166 acres at Kelleytown Road and Old Kelleytown Road. The request would support a new subdivision with 206 lots. They are also appealing the zoning board’s denial of allowing a conservation subdivision.
According to the applicant’s presentation, homes would range from 2,200 to 4,500 square feet. The estimated price points start in the mid $400 thousands up to $650 thousand plus.
Update: the data center requests below have been postponed off the November 19 BOC agenda. They will be rescheduled for a meeting in 2025.
- Strickland Road Farms, LLC of McDonough, GA requests rezoning for 250 acres off Simpson Mill Road. The request would support a data center. They are also applying to amend the comp plan from low-density suburban to office.
The developer presented the proposed project at Thursday’s zoning board meeting. The ZAB recommended denial. - 0 Rocky Creek Road, LLC of Wilmington, DE is similarly requesting a rezoning for a data center. This property consists of 148 acres at Georgia 20 and Rocky Creek Road. A request to amend the comp plan is also part of this application.
It too presented to the zoning board on Nov. 14. The ZAB recommended approval. Both projects are by the same developer.
View the meeting agenda here.
Stockbridge Council
Stockbridge City Hall at 6 pm
The agenda includes two public hearings to consider changes to the city’s zoning code. They would modify townhome and gas station development standards.
Townhome Standards
The proposed code revision would reduce the front yard setback from 50’ to 30’. Stockbridge adopted its current zoning code in March 2022. Since that time, numerous townhome projects have requested a variance to reduce the front yard setback. This change would eliminate those variances.
In addition, the code revision would incorporate new architectural standards. Townhomes would require at least 80% brick, stone or stucco on their front elevations. Side elevations would be a combination of brick, stone, stucco and / or no more than 30% cement fiberboard. Rear elevations could be cement fiberboard. The standards would prohibit vinyl, metal or aluminum siding.
Gas Station Standards
Presently, the Stockbridge code requires at least 4,500 feet of distance separation for a new gas station. This bans new gas stations in all but a few locations within the city. The revisions would reduce this buffer to 800’. The map illustrates that effect.
The code revision would also add additional standards for service stations. First, any new gas station could only be on an arterial or collector roadway. This is based on roadway classifications published by state and county DOT. The project would require C-3 zoning, or C-2 zoning with a special use permit.
In addition, the standards would include requiring electric vehicle chargers at a one to one ratio as gas pumps. They also stipulate any service station must include space for at least two sub-tenants. The building exterior must be all brick. Finally, the developer must be making at least an eight million dollar investment.
Lastly, the agenda includes an update to the city’s speed hump ordinance. View the meeting agenda here.
Thursday, November 21
There are two meetings in Stockbridge on Thursday.
Stockbridge Planning Commission
Stockbridge City Hall at 6:30 pm
The city’s planning commission will tentatively consider five proposed developments. That’s according to the legal notices in the newspaper. The requests include the following:
New Gas Station
- GMI, 2 Inc. is proposing a new gas station on Rock Quarry Road. The 4.26-acre property is at Hospital Drive. They are seeking a comp plan amendment from high-density residential to low-density mixed-use.
This request was originally on the September 2024 meeting agenda for a special use permit. Planning staff recommended denial because it was too close to existing gas stations, based on the distance requirements. The applicant subsequently postponed their request. This location would now meet the distance requirements if the city approves the distance reduction discussed above.
New Subdivision
- This proposal has requested a deferral to December.
Meritage Homes is proposing a new subdivision off Highway 42 and Campground Road. They are requesting to annex into the city limits of Stockbridge. They have also applied for a comp plan amendment and rezoning request. The property has 48.6 acres. According to documents shared by Henry County, because of the associated annexation request, the builder is proposing 243 lots. They include 142 townhomes and 101 detached homes.
Other Requests
- Pivotal Enterprises, LLC is proposing a townhome development on the east side of Brush Creek Court. This is off North Henry Blvd between Walmart and the downtown district. The applicant owns 2.28 acres. They have applied to rezone the property from C-2 (general commercial) to MFR (multiple-family residential). In addition, they are asking to amend the future land use map from low-density mixed-use to medium-density residential.
- B1 Home Improvement, LLC is proposing a new self-storage business on Davis Road. They own 6.9 acres located immediately north of Walmart. To support this project, they are seeking a comp plan amendment and rezoning request.
- AP Property Solutions, LLC is asking to revert zoning for 4.8 acres off Blackhall Road. They are asking to revert the zoning from SR (suburban residential) to RR (rural residential). This is to divide the property into single-family home lots.
As of Sunday, November 17, the meeting agenda is not yet available. It will be on the city’s meeting website when published. All zoning items will be considered by the city council in December. That meeting is on Monday, December 9, at 6 pm.
Councilman Alexander Town Hall
Finally, Stockbridge Councilman Alexander will host his quarterly town hall. It will be at the Winslow at Eagle’s Landing clubhouse, 900 Maple Leaf Drive, McDonough. The town hall begins at 7 pm on Thursday. The town hall has been postponed.
Discussion topics include homestead tax exemptions, community clean-up, community development, economic development, the city amphitheater, public services and transportation.
Featured image shows a map of county and city office buildings within Henry County. Clayton Carte / MHF News map created with Datawrapper.
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