Whitfield County commissioners reject rezoning for subdivision near Cohutta

Charles Oliver, The Daily Citizen, Dalton, Ga.
·3 min read

Sep. 14—Members of the Whitfield County Board of Commissioners on Monday rejected a rezoning request for a proposed subdivision near Cohutta.

The commissioners voted 3-0 to reject a request by Wheeler Dam Properties to rezone 34.4 acres on Wheeler Dam Drive near Cohutta to zero lot line residential from general agriculture. Commissioner John Thomas abstained, and Chairman Jevin Jensen typically votes only if there is a tie. Thomas, who is a realtor, said his firm was the broker for the land.

Zero lot line residential allows up to 10 houses per acre. At the August meeting of the Dalton-Varnell-Whitfield County Planning Commission, the staff recommendation was to deny the rezoning request for the Wheeler Dam Drive property because of potential traffic problems and other concerns, and the planning commission voted 4-0 to recommend that the county commissioners deny the request.

During the public comment section of Monday's meeting, several residents expressed concern about the Wheeler Dam Drive subdivision and other subdivisions underway or planned for the area around Cohutta and Varnell.

"What are we going to do about the traffic?" asked Ann Blevins.

Mary Smith said she moved to Cohutta 42 years ago "because it is a quaint little town."

"I am concerned about the amount of houses that are going in," she said. "We are all concerned about the traffic."

She asked the county commissioners to remember why people moved to Cohutta.

Commissioners voted 3-1 to approve a request by Winkler and Grant Properties to rezone 111 acres on Rauschenberg Road to single-family residential from general agriculture with the conditions that house sizes be a minimum of 1,500 square feet of heated space with an attached two-car garage and that there be a 30-foot vegetative buffer between the planned subdivision and New Hope Elementary School. Thomas cast the dissenting vote, citing concerns about traffic.

The commissioners voted 4-0 to approve a request by developer Dave Canter to modify some of the conditions placed on the development of Camden Farms, a planned 400-acre subdivision just south of Cohutta on Cleveland Highway.

Specifically, he asked that a condition that no tenant could occupy more than 20,000 square feet in the commercial portion of the development be increased to 100,000 square feet. He also asked that a condition allowing only monument signs no more than 15 feet high along Cleveland Highway be changed to follow regular county rules. Monument signs are made from durable materials such as brick or stone. The county's general sign law will not permit billboards.

The county commissioners also voted 4-0 to:

—Apply for a COVID-19 Mitigation in Georgia Confinement Facilities Grant for the county jail. The county is eligible for up to $50,000 to cover COVID-19-related expenses. Jensen said there is no local match required if the county receives the grant.

"We are focusing on environmental hygiene, cleaning supplies and some PPE (personal protective equipment)," said sheriff's office Capt. Wesley Lynch. "The grant is still open, and we also hope to upgrade some of our HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) systems as well, but we are still awaiting some information to go forward with this portion of the grant."

—Approve a change order to the county's bridge rehabilitation project for additional repairs of the bridge on Houston Valley Road.

County Engineer Kent Benson said additional damage has been found on the bridge.

"The contract covers rehab work on five different bridges," he said. "The original contract amount was $1,866,532.50. This change order would bring the total to $1,939,287.50. The other bridges are on Beaverdale Road, South Dug Gap Road, Old Tilton Road and Dawnville Road."

The funding for bridge rehabilitation comes from the county's share of the four-year, $66 million 2020 Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST).

Benson said the Houston Valley Road bridge is scheduled to be replaced by the Georgia Department of Transportation in the next five to seven years but without these repairs it will not last that long.