Committee OKs Pizza Joint's request
An alcohol application for Columbia County's newest pizza restaurant was approved at a Planning and Engineering Committee meeting May 23 and will be voted on by the Planning and Zoning Commission at its Thursday meeting.
The former Fat Man's West store, on Washington Road at Old Evans Road in Evans, is slated to be torn down to make way for a new Pizza Joint restaurant.
Photo by Jim Blaylock
The Pizza Joint filed the application for its second location, which will be on the site of the former Fat Man's West building on Washington Road in Evans. Restaurant owner Michael Schepis opened his first location on Broad Street in December 1996.
The application is for the restaurant to serve beer, wine and distilled spirits, but gives no indication of when the restaurant will open, said Linda Glasscock, the county's code compliance manager. The restaurant must open within 180 days of the license being approved by the county commission, Glasscock said. No construction plans, however, have been filed for approval by the Engineering and Environmental Services Division, said Jim Leiper, the division director.
After the application is approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission, it will move to the county commission for final approval.
At its most recent meeting, the county's Planning and Engineering Committee also approved a proposal to widen buffer zones and setbacks between any residential development and any other property that will be used for anything other than residential.
The county's Planning and Development Division requires a 5-foot to 40-foot buffer zone and half as much on side lot lines than on rear lot lines, said Jeff Browning, the county's planning director.
With fast-developing commercial properties along Washington Road in Evans, Browning said, the measure is preventative to any problems that could arise from residential property owners.
"I am not aware of any specific cases where people said that business is getting too close to them," Browning said. "But the commissioners do feel perhaps that is going to be a problem in the future if we don't deepen those buffers."
Browning researched buffer zone requirements in similar counties around Atlanta. The proposal was sent to the Planning and Zoning Commission for a required public hearing to amend the Planning and Zoning Ordinance.