Three years after Macon-Bibb County Planning & Zoning approved a sprawling new truck stop along Interstate 75, developers were back Monday with a new proposal for 5250 Sardis Church Road in south Bibb County.
Foresite Group project manager Micah Hatley said the original deal with Travel Centers of America fell through, but they have plans for a much smaller 7-Eleven fueling center with commercial truck parking.
In 2021, neighbors repeatedly fought the truck stop over fears of increased traffic, noise, light pollution and encroachment near wetlands, but no one spoke in opposition to the scaled-back development this time.
Instead of a 16,755-square-foot travel center with a restaurant and an 11,156-square-foot truck maintenance center, the proposed 24-hour 7-Eleven will be about 5,400 square feet with 47 regular parking spaces and eight fuelling stations in front of the store, plus room for 14 trucks to park near four fueling stations in the rear of the property.
Four outparcels would be available for future businesses including a possible hotel or restaurants.
“The gas station is expecting all its traffic from the interstate, so there should be very little traffic going past there,” Hatley said.
A traffic study of the prior plans called for a traffic light but negotiations are ongoing with local stakeholders, including the Macon-Bibb County Industrial Authority.
None of the wetlands will be touched on the 31-acre wooded tract with 11 acres on the west side of the lot likely remaining undeveloped and about a half-dozen acres included in the new project, he said.
The development is not expected to create any additional light pollution for nearby homes. P&Z unanimously approved the revised plan, Hatley said.
Commissioners also agreed to rezone parcels between 2080 and 2126 Barnes Ferry Road to allow Concrete Enterprises to build a ready-mix concrete plant on nearly 30 acres.
Raw materials of sand, cement and gravel will be stored on site, mixed and loaded onto trucks to be hauled away.
The equipment and small office building would only total about 3,000 square feet, said Jennie Caldwell of the Carter Engineering Group.
After learning that the equipment collects 99.9% of dust generated in the process, the commission agreed to rezone the five contiguous lots from wholesale and light industrial to heavy industrial for the plant.
Before construction begins, developers need to return to P&Z for conditional use approval of the plant, after the project is studied as a development of regional impact, or DRI.
Sheridan Construction got the go-ahead to expand its operation to six adjacent lots on Hudson and Schofield Streets and Jackson Lane. The company has its main office on Schofield Street.
P&Z approved rezoning the combined 1.27 acres from multi-family residential to general commercial to combine all the lots with the existing parcel off Riverside Drive.
The office expansion includes more than 5,100 square feet of office space to include a training room, catering kitchen, workrooms and a conference room. The company also plans enhanced landscaping and outdoor seating areas.
Caldwell, who also represented Sheridan in the hearing, said no new hires are expected with the expansion.
“This is to accommodate the employees they have,” Caldwell said. “They have an overcrowding situation with people sharing offices.”
BSW Motors at 3737 Napier Ave. came back before P&Z to correct property line issues at 3600 Brookdale Ave.
Owners of the used car lot discovered that a pre-existing fence erected decades before they bought the property actually encroached on land owned by Macon-Bibb County at the neighboring Brookdale Resource Center.
The county has agreed to sell the 0.156 acres, so P&Z rezoned that sliver from residential to general commercial to match the rest of BSW’s property which will allow the lots to be combined.
Other agenda items
- 217 Tulokke Court — Nathan Hodgson received a variance to replace a carport that was damaged by a falling tree. Hodgson began the project without receiving the necessary approval, but P&Z allowed him to continue as long as he reduced the carport footprint to line up with an existing garage and the front of his house along Moseley Dixon Road. They also mandated he replace a proposed metal roof with shingles to better fit with the character of the neighborhood.
- 1985 Gray Highway — Conditional use granted to allow Bryan Gaylor of Clear Channel Outdoor to remove an existing billboard and build a new digital, multi-display, two-sided billboard a bit farther north on the same lot.
- 2809 Hollis Road — Michael Lemons was found to be in violation of his 2022 auto broker permit by having vehicles for sale and disabled cars on the property. P&Z granted his application to operate as a used car lot between the hours of 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Lemons agreed to limit his inventory to 10 used cars at a time and will not do any vehicle maintenance on the lot.
- 2685 Cherokee Ave. — Tuwanna Brooks received a certificate of appropriateness for exterior modifications to the house that were already underway. Due to historic district regulations, Brooks must replace the new vinyl windows with wood and remove the new metal roof and install appropriate material under the guidelines.
- 9668 Napier Ave. — P&Z approved Lamont Williams’ certificate of appropriateness for outside renovations including replacing windows, moving a back door and adding a patio. Although the house will have two kitchens, seven bedrooms and bathrooms, Williams said it’s for his family to use when visiting from out of state. The Design Review Board denied his plans to install a second outdoor staircase from the second floor that would have mirrored existing steps.
- 2703 Hillcrest Ave. — Cheline and Hans Jules secured a certificate of appropriateness to replace the all-wood windows with either wood or aluminum clad windows, replace the front door and roof shingles, and repaint. If the Jules need to remove trees for the project, they are to work with P&Z staff for approval of the landscape plan in this historic district.
To learn more about these applications visit mbpz.org and view the Oct. 28 agenda.
— 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.
