Hampton Street Townhomes to be heard during special called meeting

Update: the proposed Hampton Street Townhomes are scheduled before the McDonough Planning Commission during a special called meeting on Tuesday, February 19, at 6 pm. Meetings are held at McDonough city hall.

The request was originally scheduled before the planning commission in October; however, it has been delayed several times. The rezoning will appear before the city council at a future meeting.

A rezoning request for 8.92 acres along state route 20 / 81 will be heard by the McDonough Planning Commission during a special called meeting on Tuesday, February 19, at 6 pm. The request is to rezone the property from R-85 (single-family residential) to RTD (residential townhome district) for the purpose of building seventy-one townhomes.

The McDonough city council will hold a public hearing on the request, and render a decision on the application, during a future council meeting. The meetings occur at city hall on Keys Ferry Street.

The rezoning request has stood out because of the high number of requested variances. There has been a slight change in the requested variances since the project was first proposed. The variance to allow a management company to sell/rent the units was removed after city staff determined such a variance was not necessary. Instead, the first requested variance is to allow private streets so that the development may be gated.

The requested variances are:

1. To allow the development to be owned and units sold/rented by a management company, rather than single family owned residences required by the zoning code. To allow for private streets through the development, rather than public streets required by the zoning code.
2. To allow one car garages for each unit, rather than the two car garage required by the zoning code.
3. To reduce the front setback to seven feet to maximize open space, rather than the minimum front yard of twenty feet required by the zoning code.
4. To reduce the minimum heated square footage of each unit to 1,000 sq. ft. for one bedroom and 1,200 sq. ft. for two bedrooms, rather than the 1,200 sq. ft. for one bedroom and 1,300 sq. ft. for two bedrooms required by the zoning code.
5. To reduce the setback along Bridges Road to twenty feet, rather than the thirty foot setback from public right of way required by the zoning code.

Residents with comments, questions or concerns are encouraged to attend the meetings about the project and speak during the public hearings. Residents can also reach out to McDonough city council members or city staff if they are unable to attend the meetings.