A second proposal for a large residential development off Newton Bridge Road prompted Athens-Clarke County planners and planning commissioners to start talking about the future of the area as the north side of town continues to grow rapidly.
The area is currently designated for industrial use, but industries are no longer interested in locating there because it contains environmentally sensitive wetlands. A developer has proposed building 186 townhouses and 160 detached homes on 120 acres off Newton Bridge Road about a quarter-mile from the Holland Youth Sports Complex, which would require a rezoning and a change to the county’s future land use map. The ACC Commission approved another subdivision nearby in December 2023 after the applicant made concessions on pedestrian amenities.
“From a staff standpoint, we’re optimistic that the corridor needs to pivot from a future land use standpoint, and residential seems like the appropriate direction,” Planning Director Bruce Lonnee said at a Jan. 2 planning commission meeting. “The question then becomes, at what density?”
Planning commissioners discussed whether the corridor should be designated “traditional neighborhood” or “mixed-density residential,” both of which allow for walkable residential and small-scale commercial development. A committee is currently working on the first update of ACC’s future land use map in 25 years.
“We’re still working on all of this, but that corridor, Newton Bridge, is definitely not looking like industrial, I think that’s pretty safe to say,” said Alex Sams, a planning commissioner who serves on the committee drawing the land-use map. “It’s seeming very appropriate at the moment that more housing go in there.”
Previously industrial buildings nearby are already transitioning into other uses—for example, mixed-use developments at the Chase Park Warehouses, Southern Mill and the former watch factory General Time. “We could see [General Time] becoming a little bit of a node for this area, for residents to come and enjoy themselves,” senior planner Stephen Jaques said.
Those are denser developments and led to discussion about how densely Newton Bridge Road should be developed. Planning commissioner Sara Beresford worried about “accidentally [creating] Gwinnett County sprawl. I don’t want to see that there. I think we can do better.” Likewise, planning commissioner Jennifer Fleece said she wants to see the corridor develop as a community, rather than as isolated subdivisions lacking restaurants or a grocery store.
Planning commissioners also raised concerns about transportation safety. “You’re adding residential density on a road that I think is pretty treacherous,” Beresford said. As Lonnee noted, another committee assigned to recommend infrastructure improvements funded by tax revenue from future growth on Newton Bridge has said road safety should be the top priority.
The planning commission had similar issues with the latest iteration of Winslow Park, an even larger subdivision proposed for Atlanta Highway west of Georgia Square Mall. It would include a total of 944 units. Planning commissioners roundly criticized the proposal in September and did not like it much better last week—in particular, the “flat,” repetitive architecture, the use of alleys, a lack of community greenspace or a civic center, a lack of housing options for such a large development and the lack of a commercial component.
“For 200 acres, we’re only getting four housing types—single-family detached, single-family attached, low-rise multifamily and duplexes,” Jaques said. “We feel like with a project this size, we should get more variety than that.”
The original New Urban-style plan from 2004 was “intended to give residents access to commercial and that interplay between commercial and residential, in hopes that folks wouldn’t have to get in their car and go on the highway every time they want to get something,” but through various revisions over the years now suffers from “design drift,” Jaques said. “Essentially, we’re getting increased density without the design principles that make density an attractive place to live,” he said.
Under the current plan, the 415 detached houses, 216 townhouses and 313 apartments would be separated from each other, but planning commissioners said they wanted to see them mixed together. “What it’s really missing is the principle of integrating housing types,” Beresford said.
“It feels very Gwinnett County,” Fleece added.
Scott Haines of W&A Engineering said the project now includes entry-level cottages that will sell for about $100,000 less than Athens’ $350,000 median home price. “We feel like this is a really awesome opportunity to add some housing to the community, so we’d really like to see if there’s a path forward for it.”
Although it may be cookie-cutter, planning commissioner Sarah Gehring said its affordability is a plus. “Especially if you’re on a budget, you can’t always afford the nicest things,” she said.
Regarding the exclusion of commercial or retail space, Haines said his client, D.R. Horton, is a homebuilder and not a commercial developer, and that the landowner has sold the commercially zoned property. He also argued that the residential component should come first. “If you want village commercial, it needs a village,” he said. “You can’t build a coffee shop and expect the neighborhood to come later.”
However, as Jaques noted, in past New Urban developments in Athens, the commercial portion either never materialized or, like Oak Grove, turned into a car-centric strip mall rather than part of a walkable neighborhood.
The planning commission—an appointed board that advises the county commission on zoning decisions—voted unanimously to table the rezoning and waiver requests for up to 90 days.A third major development planning commissioners reviewed did get high marks. Both planning staffers and planning commissioners praised the “unique,” “modern” architecture of a 228-bedroom apartment complex proposed for the corner of North Avenue and Strickland Avenue. The 4.5-acre parcel is currently a mobile home park with about 12 RV owners living on the property, but the current landowner said he is working with the residents to relocate and is willing to assist them financially. That proposal will get a hearing at the Jan. 21 ACC Commission meeting, with a vote tentatively scheduled for Feb. 4.
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