Two rezoning requests were recommended for approval at the Henry County Zoning Advisory Board’s May 13 regular meeting, while another got a thumbs-down from the group.

A 20-acre site at 1664 Hwy. 20 East was recommended for rezoning from residential to commercial. The property is on the southwest corner of the intersection with Airline Road, and lies between existing industrial and residential property.
Plans for the corner call for a neighborhood commercial retail center with a gas station and an interior-access, climate-controlled self-service storage facility. Also approved was a separate request to amend the future land use map designation for the site from industrial to commercial. All final rezoning decisions are made by the Henry County Board of Commissioners.

Approval was also recommended of a request that would change a 2.5-acre site at 1430 Snapping Shoals Road from commercial to residential and allow it to be split into two lots. The property is surrounded by mostly residential property and currently has a vacant commercial store on it, according to county officials.

The ZAB recommended denial regarding an 11.75-acre site on the west side of New Hope Road, near Peeksville Road and a short distance north of the Tussahaw Reservoir. The proposal was to create 10 residential lots with just under an acre per lot in net density, which necessitated the proposed zoning change from RA to R-1. Also recommended for denial was a separate agenda item requesting an amendment to the county’s comprehensive plan and future land use map that would designate the property as low-density residential instead of rural residential.

All of these requests are likely to be heard soon by the Henry County Board of Commissioners, which makes the final decision on rezoning.

In other business, the ZAB granted a conditional use to a church that plans to build in a new location. The site in question is at 417 Hwy. 138 East in Stockbridge, just east of Millers Mill Road, and is currently zoned for residential use.
According to a county staff report, the 6.5-acre tract currently has a vacant house and a few ancillary structures, and Stockbridge Grace Church intends to demolish the house to make way for a new 15,000-square-foot building. The conditional use request was approved with several conditions.

The ZAB also approved a variance request for a 1.6-acre tract on Cotton Indian Creek Road to allow a reduction in the front yard setback from 75 to 50 feet due to topographical restraints.