Commission signs off on setback reductions
A request to reduce side setbacks for homes planned in an Evans subdivision received a second chance from the Columbia County Planning Commission on Thursday.
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Willow Lake developers initially wanted to reduce the side building setbacks from 5 to 3 feet inside the second section of the subdivision, which is part of Jones Creek, but commissioners denied the request at their Oct. 1 meeting.
At Thursday's meeting, commissioners unanimously approved the developer's request to change the side setbacks from 5 to 3.5 feet on 10 specific lots toward the rear of the subdivision, located off Furys Ferry Road.
The change would accommodate slightly larger homes on those lots and eliminate a green space area in the middle of the development.
Developer Bruce Lyons said he plans to use 3.5-foot setbacks on one side of the homes and a 7- or 8-foot setback on the other side.
"That's what we feel like we need on those 10 lots," he said.
As a condition of the approval, the houses on the specified lots can be no taller than two stories.
The subdivision contains 43 lots on 10.8 acres. In April, the housing style inside the subdivision changed from townhouse to single-family housing as approved by the planning and zoning board.
The property's original zoning allowed for 128 apartments, Lyons previously said.
Commissioners also approved a rezoning request for half an acre on Collins Drive from single-family residential to planned unit development. The acreage was added to a five-acre planned unit development on Casey Court in Martinez.
The board then agreed to a revision for the entire development that slightly increased the overall density but eliminated six proposed townhouses, which were replaced by seven patio lots.
Also at the meeting, the board approved two final plats for one lot on Kalmia Circle in section two of the Bartram Trail subdivision and eight lots on 507 acres as part of a family estate on Louisville Road.
A preliminary plat for 256 lots on 73 acres in the first phase of the Baker Glen planned unit development, near Grovetown High School, also was approved.