The Commerce Planning Commission will issue its recommendation to the Commerce City Council Monday night on the proposed new “overlay” zoning district that affects the future development along every state highway leading into town.
The planning commission meets Monday at 7 p.m. in the Peach Room of the Commerce Civic Center. The city council will vote on the planners’ recommendation at its April 9 meeting at 6:30 p.m. in the Commerce Room of the Commerce Civic Center.
The new overlay district, over time, is expected to provide continuity of development, whether residential, commercial or industrial. But it will not affect current uses of property.
No one attended the first public hearing on the zoning proposal, which was held Thursday, Feb. 9.
The new district will affect signage, lighting, building materials, ingress and egress, parking, site layout, sidewalks, landscaping and connectivity. As a joint zoning district with the city and Jackson County, it covers properties that are both in the city and outside of the city limits.
The boundaries of the Commerce overlay would run as follows:
•Hwy. 98 West: from Yarbrough Ridgeway Road east to Jefferson Road
•Hwy. 98 East: from South Broad Street east to the Madison County line
•Homer Road: from North Broad Street to the U.S. 441 bypass
•U.S. 441: From the Banks County line at the north to Hoods Mill Road on the south
•Jefferson Road: from North Elm Street west to the North Oconee River
•Hwy. 334: from U.S. 441 south to beyond Ingles
The new standards would kick in if the use of a building changed – or if the owner wanted to erect a new sign. If the building is destroyed by fire or natural disaster, its replacement would have to meet the standards under the overlay.
In addition to the Hwy. 124 overlay, there are two other overlay districts in the county, both in Braselton. The Commerce overlay would be the first multi-jurisdictional zoning overlay district in the county.
Also on the agenda for Monday night will be a request from Northeast Georgia Bank to amend the future land use map in Oconee Pointe subdivision to reflect that five lots previously earmarked for greenspace are changed to R-1E lots. That change is the result of an agreement reached between the bank and the residents of the subdivision.
