The Hall County Planning Commission voted unanimously Monday night to approve a rezoning allowing for a new self-storage facility on McEver Road.
The 11.36-acre property is located at 3625 McEver Road as well as 3634 and 3640 Pleasant Hill Road and is currently zoned as Agricultural Residential III. The applicant, 3625 McEver Road, LLC, is requesting the area be rezoned to Planned Commercial Development. Plans for the self-storage facility include 72,000 feet of storage space divided between three two-story structures. With the planning commission’s approval vote, the final decision will go to the Board of Commissioners.
Chairman Chris Braswell entertained the motion that granted approval for the rezoning. He said there is currently a strong market for self-storage in Hall County.
“It is a big need, yes,” Braswell. “But finding the right place for it is critical. And that's why we give so much thought to it.”
Several citizens spoke to the commission during the public hearing on the rezoning, detailing their concern for a commercial business encroaching on the residential area. Braswell implemented several conditions that aimed to put local residents at ease.
“As I understood it, it [concerns] was the access and visibility of the project from Pleasant Hill Road,” Braswell said. “And we feel like we did our job in restricting that there'll be an undisturbed 200-foot buffer that ran parallel to Pleasant Hill Road, as well as no access on what appears on the plat of an old road bed that goes on to the road. So we restricted that as well.”
One of the major concerns of the commission is to consider future land use for parcels beyond what they are being used for now.
“In a planned development, you know specifically what is required in perpetuity—and it doesn't matter if the project is sold to someone else, the same conditions still apply,” Braswell said. “He's on what I consider a major thoroughfare, but at the same time, the thoroughfare needs to be protected. And that's why we're so concerned with what the project looks like as well.”
The Hall County Board of Commissioners will conduct the final vote on January 26.
