Does Macon have enough affordable housing to meet current and future needs?
That is the focus of the Macon-Bibb County Planning & Zoning Commission’s Housing Assessment & Forecast Study currently underway.
“We have created a survey to help us better understand housing suitability, (whether existing housing options meet community needs), and affordability, (can residents and workers afford to rent or own in Macon-Bibb County),” Planning Director Gregory Brown emailed to stakeholders.
The survey takes about 10 minutes to complete and is provided in English and Spanish.
The deadline for completion is Monday, Aug. 18 at 5 p.m.
Access the survey online at www.surveymonkey.com/r/maconbibb2050 or hard copies are available at P&Z’s office at Macon Mall, Macon City Hall and the Washington Memorial Library.
Macon’s Hindu community will have 24 new homes adjacent to the Umiya Temple under rezoning approved at Monday’s Macon-Bibb County Planning & Zoning Commission.
Widner & Associates applied to rezone about five acres from agricultural to multi-family residential at 4706 Raley Road as the developer pre-sold the dozen duplexes to congregants of the temple next door.
The planned, private, gated community will be similar to another small neighborhood across from the temple.
Applicant Tony Widner explained the houses will be facing north in keeping with their faith tradition.
“Buildings will be oriented based on direction, not necessarily based on street location?” P&Z’s Kesia Stafford inquired.
“It will look like a normal development but we’ll have to work with other restraints but we don’t see it as being an issue,” Widner said.
P&Z staff found that the proposal improves the housing stock of the surrounding area, and the agricultural zoning no longer fits the property as the small site would not be marketable for large-scale farming operations.
“The current zone imposes a negative effect on the property owner, who does not currently use the property for agriculture. The gain of local housing for the Umiya Temple residents will allow them to walk to their worship center, and is more consistent with 2050 (Comprehensive) Plan, Future Land Use classification of Urban Residential,” the staff report stated.
The time has come to update the co-called “Comp Plan.”
P&Z Executive Director Jeff Ruggieri announced TSW Planners, Architects, Landscape Architects with offices in Atlanta, Chattanooga, Tennessee, Lexington, Kentucky, and Tulsa, Oklahoma was the winning bid of 10 applicants to update the Comprehensive Future Land Use Plan for Macon.
Commissioners approved TSW’s selection and authorized Ruggieri to negotiate a contract of up to $300,000 for the process.
Other agenda items
- 3495 Riggins Mill Road — P&Z rezoned nearly three-quarters of an acre from R-1 single-family residential to R-3 multi-family residential to allow for construction of a single-story, 6,050-square-foot personal care home. “This facility will provide daily living support to residents who seek a stable, respectful, and home-like environment within the comfort of a residential neighborhood,” Nickia Rigby stated in the application. Rigby plans to run the 11-bedroom personal care home while living in a house on one of the five tracts that total nearly four acres at the corner of Dorothy Drive. The other plats provide the opportunity for expansion or other housing, depending on the evolving needs of the community, she said.
- 420 Forest Hill Road — Residential rezoning approved from R-1 single-family to R-3 multi-family to allow for professional offices in a previously abandoned house on a 0.84-acre parcel.
- 1220 Jackson St. — Certificate of appropriateness granted to replace three-tab, asphalt roof shingles with fiberglass ones.
- 2695 Stanislaus Circle — P&Z approves the appropriateness of replacing a four-panel sliding glass door ensemble with two French-style doors surrounded by two fixed windows of the same size. A new design for a side door was also approved.
- 2437 Vineville Ave. — New sign approved for Moore Hall Trial Attorneys.
- 1262 & 1240 Forsyth St. — New 6-foot fence approved for the parking lot behind St. Paul’s Episcopal Church that also is shared with St. Paul Apartments.
- 311 First St. and 732 Mulberry St. — P&Z removed a previous requirement that First Presbyterian Church to replat its parking lots before renovating them.
- 5223 Riverside Drive — Infusion clinic approved to operate five spa-like infusion suites five days a week from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the more than 8,900-square-foot building that has a history of medical uses. Twelvestone Health Partners provides the medication needs of patients with complex and chronic conditions such as Multiple Sclerosis, Ulcerative Colitis, Crohn’s disease, thyroid issues and Alzheimer’s.
— Civic Journalism Senior Fellow Liz Jarvis Fabian covers Macon-Bibb County governmental entities for The Macon Newsroom and can be reached at [email protected] or 478-301-2976.
