Want to ride a 1,000-foot-long zipline 30 feet above a lake – without leaving Henry County?
You could get the chance, if a company that recently appeared before the Zoning Advisory Board has its way.
The applicant sought a conditional use permit to allow an outdoor adventure park on a 141-acre site on the east side of Iris Lake Road, south of King Mill Road, between McDonough and Locust Grove.
The ZAB shared some citizens’ concerns about traffic and a motion was made at its May 23 meeting to deny the request until a traffic study could be made. But that motion failed. No one made a motion to approve, so the issue died for the time being, although the applicant can appeal to the Henry County Board of Commissioners.
County staff said that the recreational activities proposed for the site are allowed under the current Unified Land Development Code with a conditional use. Those activities include horses, climbing towers and other outdoor amusements in addition to three long ziplines over a 22-acre lake and six shorter ones in the surrounding forest accessible via suspension bridges.
Twenty lodging units are proposed in the form of cabins and treehouses, each of which would have its own bathroom facilities and septic tank. The lodging must comply with ULDC regulations for RV parks and campgrounds; according to county staff.
The developers’ representative told the ZAB that the goal is to “protect the natural beauty of the land and create something special for the community.”
A company called American Adventure Park Systems was identified as the operator of the park should it be developed. Repeated references were made to Historic Banning Mills, an existing park in the western Georgia town of Whitesburg which is also operated by that company.
The park would be used for corporate events and also open to the public, most of whom would make reservations in advance. The developers do not expect more than about 100 people per day, but several people who spoke in opposition to the proposal said that traffic is already a problem in the area.
In other business, the ZAB granted a variance to reduce parking requirements for an apartment complex on Jonesboro Road across from the Henry Town Center retail complex. The applicants had previously requested an administrative waiver to reduce the 446 required parking spaces, and staff can only lower the total by five percent, which brought it to 422. The request before the ZAB was to reduce the number of spaces to 404. A representative of the applicants said that they “want to maintain the integrity and security of the gated community.”
The ZAB was asked by the Hampton City Council to consider an ordinance amendment, but there were questions about whether the proposed changes were discussed in open meetings so the board voted to deny the request until it is presented to the council in a public meeting.
