A recent move by city officials in McDonough to show support for keeping the courthouse on the Square has been seconded by their counterparts in Locust Grove.

  The Locust Grove City Council voted at its Sept. 2 regular meeting to approve a resolution “regarding the location of the Henry County Courthouse functions within the downtown of McDonough.” The move came after the McDonough City Council voted to put a non-binding resolution on its November ballot to give McDonough citizens an opportunity to make themselves heard on the issue.

  The discussion began after discussions at Henry County Board of Commissioners meetings in which some county officials expressed interest in looking at the issue because of space and security concerns, saying that perhaps moving court facilities would alleviate both concerns. The county already owns land near the county jail which would conceivably be used for that purpose, making the daily transport of inmates to and from court a more secure operation while also allowing more room for the overburdened court system to grow, according to county officials.

  McDonough officials pushed back on that idea in large part because of the businesses on the Square that would be impacted if the courts were relocated, as well as questions about what would possibly be put in their place in the historic old courthouse as well as the ancillary buildings. The Locust Grove resolution echoes that viewpoint.

  “The mayor and council believe that the continued location of the Henry County courts within downtown McDonough is in the best interest of the county and the city, and their citizens,” the resolution states. “The mayor and council believes that the loss of these critical county facilities will result in economic harm to downtown McDonough, where great efforts have been made for many years to construct, maintain and promote a vibrant, attractive central business district for not only that city but also for the entirety of Henry County.”

  In other business, the Locust Grove council voted to approve an amendment to the city’s office and institutional zoning districts pertaining to banks and other financial institutions. Those businesses have been considered in line with OI zoning since they do not have a traditional retail component, but they are not identified as permitted uses outright, according to city officials. The amending ordinance declares that they should be allowed as permitted uses except in cases when drive-thru facilities are proposed, at which time they would be classified as conditional uses, requiring additional review by staff and a public hearing before the mayor and council.

  The council passed a resolution approving a landscape and tree replacement plan for the Gardner Farms industrial project. The developer is preserving approximately 6,100 tree units at the site, the majority of which are on the west side of the northern tract, according to city officials. The entire property is west of Hwy. 42, north of Market Place Blvd. and south of Bethlehem Road.

  The property was rezoned in May of 2018 and the first rendering of the landscape plan approved a few months later. The Gardner tract has been graded since then and the westernmost building that fronts I-75 is nearing completion, according to a city staff report.

  The rest of the property is being redesigned to accommodate a smaller building that fronts Hwy. 42 and add more parking by acquiring 96 acres of adjacent property to the north that is already zoned for industrial purposes. The brings the gross acreage to 217.4 while reducing the total building square footage from 2,018,000 to 1,670,040. The new plan will provide about 882 auto parking spaces and 2,050 truck parking spaces.

  The Atlanta Regional Commission reviewed the changes and issued May 2019 a notice in May of this year with several conditions, mostly about turn lanes and other improvements at various intersections. There were also several specific guidelines for buffering along certain road corridors.

  Another amendment to the city’s zoning map approved by the council addresses a site at 3330 Hwy. 42 which is familiar to virtually everyone who lives or works in the area. It is the site of the city’s water tower, and it has been rezoned from RA (residential-agricultural_ to TCU (transportation, communications, and utilities).

  The use of the property is not changing, but its previous RA zoning was incompatible with the city’s ordinances because the entire tract is 0.8 acres and at least one full acre is required for RA zoning, making it technically a “legal non-conforming lot,” according to officials. The action was taken solely to provide consistency with the Future Land Use Map and zoning ordinance. The property was purchased by the city in 1990 and contains no other facilities aside from the water tower.

  The council approved an official request for the donation from the Army Donations program of a 1944 M1A1 cannon for the City Hall grounds. Should the transaction be completed as planned, the World War II-era antiaircraft gun would be placed in the vicinity of the city’s planned veterans memorial site, which is part of the municipal complex master plan. Moving expenses for the piece are expected to be about $5,000 with additional costs for sandblasting and painting to keep it in good shape, according to a city staff report.