The Locust Grove City Council took action at its July 6 regular meeting on two items related to a large industrial development in the works on the north side of the city.

  The council approved a modification to zoning conditions as well as a landscape/tree replacement plan for an 80.456-acre site on the south side of Colvin Drive, west of Davis Lake Road and east of the railroad. The action was delayed three months due to public hearings being suspended in the wake of the governor’s COVID-19 executive order.

  The applicant’s original plan was to develop an industrial warehouse facility with one building totaling 1,251,250 square feet. That plan was revised, and a new plan presented in April was for three smaller buildings whose total combined space would be 1,220,300 square feet, along with appropriate truck docks, trailer storage and employee parking.

  Two previous conditions on the property included retaining the existing home on the site and establishing a buffer on one side. It was determined that it would not be feasible to keep the home in the M-1 zoning area and that future road improvements would likely require at least a portion of it to be demolished. The buffer in question is no longer needed because the adjoining property has the same zoning.

  The applicant’s proposed plan incorporates about 73.24 acres of net area subject to tree density requirements and a preliminary landscaping plan, according to a city staff report. The submitted tree protection and landscaping plan illustrates about 20 percent less than typical landscaping requirements, which staff said is within context of what council has approved for previous large-scale industrial developments.

  The council voted unanimously to approve both the zoning modification and landscaping plan motions.

  In other business, a $696,000 bid was awarded to Mid-South Builders for the Davis Lake sewer extension. In its recommendation to the council, staff indicated that several of the submitted bids were lower than what the city had expected the project to cost. It will be funded initially by the city’s current balance of tap fees and impact fees assessed to new developments for system improvements, but officials expect future connection fees to this line that will repay that fund in an amount larger than this investment. The vote to approve was unanimous.