The Henry County Zoning Advisory Board granted three variances and recommended approval of two rezoning requests at its May 28 regular meeting. The final rulings on the rezoning matters will be made by the Henry County Board of Commissioners.
The first variance was for a development slated for 42 acres on the north side of East Lake Road, across from Union Grove Middle School and between East Lake Elementary School and Glen Haven Baptist Church. The board’s vote came on a motion to waive requirements typically associated with the highway corridor overlay district regarding pedestrian lights on internal streets as well as street trees, and also to allow a four-foot width on sidewalks instead of the usual five feet. County staff had recommended denial.
A reprieve from paving requirements was the subject of the next variance, for a 22.59-acre site east of Mount Bethel Road. The applicant had originally planned for 29 lots on the property, which is zoned R-2 (residential-agricultural), but has since decided to only have five large estate-sized lots that are similar to surrounding properties. County code requires paved driveways in all R-2 areas, and staff recommended denial. The board approved a motion calling for the first 100 feet of each driveway from the Mount Bethel Road right-of-way to be paved, and that all of the driveways be a minimum of 16 feet wide.
A house built in 1866 was the subject of the third variance request. The 3.4-acre site on Crumbley Road has a 40-foot front yard setback, well below the required 75 feet but was recognized as a legal non-conforming use because the house was built long before such standards were even conceived.
The applicant wants to add on to the existing home to accommodate a very large family, and any addition would normally require bringing the entire site into compliance with current standards. The variance allows the owner, who said the house is not on any historic registry, to keep the current setback.
The ZAB voted recommend approval of a rezoning request from RA (residential-agricultural) to R-3 (single-family residential) for an 11.19-acre site south of Dailey Mill Road and east of Dailey Walk. The proposed 15-lot subdivision is in line with the county’s future land use map, which designates the property for low-density residential development, according to county staff.
After analyzing the surrounding properties, availability of sewer and street classification of Dailey Mill Road, staff recommended approval with several conditions. The motion to approve stipulated that each home be at least 2,200 square feet.
A representative of surrounding property owners spoke to the board in opposition to the request, saying that there have been numerous flooding issues and even some property damage on their sites, and that building on this property would cause more problems.
The final rezoning request got no objections from citizens. It was for a 1.7-acre site on Rock Quarry Road to allow an assisted living and hospice care facility. The property was zoned C-2 (general commercial) in 1996 and received conditional use approval in 2006 for a care home, but the conditional use expired when that business left the facility.
The current building, which has been vacant, was constructed for this purpose and the applicant has proposed reopening and operating a hospice and assisted living service without making any changes to the structure. That proposal met with ZAB approval.
