Nine months after Wesleyan Woods neighbors came out in force against a cluster development of 30 homes on 9.6 acres, no one spoke in opposition to a dozen homes planned on a similar-sized parcel off Wesleyan Drive.
Monday, the Macon-Bibb County Planning & Zoning Commission approved Triple Point Engineering’s plans for new homes on lots no smaller than a third of an acre at 515 and 535 Wesleyan Drive.
To compensate for the smaller lots, the developer plans a neighborhood pavilion in a fenced area with a pedestrian bridge over Sabbath Creek that leads to a walking trail in the woods.
“There will be no mass grading. We will only be doing individual lot grading,” Triple Point’s Nathan Shelter told the commission.
P&Z’s Tim Jones was worried about traffic on Wesleyan Drive.
“I travel that road almost daily,” Jones said. “And when Tattnall gets out of school, traffic backs up all the way down.”
Jones suggested adding a deceleration right-turn lane into the neighborhood.
Shelter said he plans to work with the traffic department on a safe and adequate design for the entrance.
Before P&Z would approve the certificate of appropriateness for the development, the owner agreed to either set up a homeowners association or put money aside for upkeep of the common areas of the neighborhood.
“The commission is very serious about maintaining these amenity areas because they are approved as a special approval,” P&Z Executive Director Jeff Ruggieri said. “You’re allowed to deviate from the rules and regulations if you provide these amenities and we have to make sure that happens for the life of the development.”
Nowell Estates neighbors in south Bibb County showed up at Monday’s meeting to share concerns about a planned church at 6045 Cara Drive, but they didn’t get the chance to speak about the proposal which P&Z staff recommended the commission deny.
Developer Tony Widner asked to defer the application until Oct. 14 to allow him to talk with nearby residents and discuss the staff’s concerns with the property owners seeking to build a 120-person church building.
Access to the 17-acre parcel would be between two residential properties in the 6100 block of Houston Road.
Ruggieri noted the church is requesting four times the required parking spaces, which could indicate future expansion plans.
“That suggests cars coming in and out,” Ruggieri said in the administrative meeting before the hearing. “That’s adverse to existing residential, and I have pretty strong concerns about that.”
Although the proposal includes site grading to channel stormwater into a retention area, those living in Nowell Estates behind the proposed church have been grappling with flooding for decades.
After receiving the deferral, Widner talked for several minutes with residents outside the hearing room.
One of them was Mary Ann Chevalley, of Francis Drive.
At the last Macon Water Authority meeting, Chevalley pleaded with the authority to intervene to halt the proposed 11,600-square-foot “House of Refuge” church.
“If you have any power of influence to stop this building, or at the very least to delay until the detention pond is completed and tested, so we know it’s going to work and we’re not going to be totally flooded by this,” Chevalley said.
MWA has plans to build a new retention pond in the low-lying neighborhood, but awaits all affected residents agreeing to the necessary easements to allow for the work to begin.
College Street contention
Renovations to a house built in 1900 at 826 College St. pitted neighbors against each other in recent months.
Appleton Avenue resident Michelle Garlington initially called P&Z after she noticed contractors working for homeowner John Bey were painting the brick columns, which is not allowed in historic districts.
“I do recognize the damage has been done and these bricks will never be the same,” Garlington told the commission.
The primer was already on the brick when P&Z inspectors halted the work and initially brought the matter to the Design Review Board earlier this month.
Bey said he was unaware of the restriction and cited several nearby buildings with painted brick.
“I apologize. It was consistent with other houses in the block” and the brick on the side of his own house had previously been painted, said Bey, who is an attorney who recently received approval for his Washington Avenue office.
“Sounds like there is no option to remove that paint without damaging the brick,” P&Z Zoning Director Butch Sementilli said.
“The cure is worse than the disease at this point, in my opinion,” the review board’s Trey Wood said.
Both the Design Review Board and P&Z reluctantly approved an after-the-fact certificate of appropriateness, but learned Bey was in the process of putting up a fence without a permit to keep neighbors from cutting through his driveway, harassing his contractors and threatening his family.
“Do not go any further until you get a permit,” P&Z Chair Jeane Easom.
A couple of days before Monday’s hearing, Bey took out a restraining order against the two men who live behind him who did not like the dark paint and were verbally abusive, he said.
Unknown vandals also smeared fecal matter in the bathrooms, he said.
Bey asked what he could do to protect his property while he goes through the process of obtaining a fence permit.
“Call Sheriff Davis,” P&Z Commissioner Tim Jones urged Bey.
Vineville sign approved
Attorney Duke Groover presented a compromise proposal for a digital sign at 3051 Vineville Ave. in front of the Regymen Fitness and new Lazarus clothing store in the old Chichester’s location.
Last meeting, P&Z rejected the variance request for a 148-square-foot display where only 50 square feet is allowed.
Groover submitted a new plan for a 100-square-foot sign, which was embraced by staff and the commission.
“It’s only a 50-foot increase of what is allowed,” Sementilli said. “Also, we believe that this would help to not clutter Vineville Avenue and allow multiple free-standing signs. Hopefully they can also blend some of the other shopping centers into this sign.”
Other agenda items
- 360 Rogers Ave. — P&Z approved a certificate of appropriateness for a chain link fence to attach to an existing fence. Because chain link is not an approved material in historic districts, any future replacement must be done with regulated materials.
- 231 Riverside Drive — New sign approved for the James Bates Brannan Groover law firm.
- 5844 Columbus Road — Repair garage with auto sales approved.
- 5300 Bowman Road — Expansion approved for Primary Pediatrics to build two more wings, including an after-hours facility.
- 3401 Ocmulgee East — Conditional use granted for a repair shop.
- 337 Seventh St. — Signage approved for the new Seventh Street residential loft buildings.
- Hartley Bridge Road at Interstate 75 — Digital billboard approved.
- 3100 Mercer University Drive — Variance approved for a fence within 10 feet of a right-of-way. Commissioners noted the location of the deceleration turn lane provides a clear view of oncoming traffic beyond the fence.
— Civic Journalism Senior Fellow Liz Fabian covers Macon-Bibb County government entities for The Macon Newsroom and can be reached at [email protected] or 478-301-2976.
