Rezoning Request for Parkway Drive Property Draws Large Crowd at City Commission Meeting

 

At a public hearing held during the regular meeting of the Toccoa City Commission Monday, the commission meeting room at Toccoa City Hall was filled with citizens who had come to oppose a rezoning request on a parcel of unimproved property on Parkway Drive. The rezoning request, submitted by Chuck Wright, who owns Bulldog Car Wash and serves as a Stephens County Commissioner, requested a change from Single Family Residential to Multi Family Residential. 

Wright, who is in the process of purchasing the parcel, along with two adjoining parcels, stated on the rezoning application that he planned to build two four-or five-plexes on the parcel. 

Wright spoke before the Commission, stating his plans for the property and stating that the conditions on nearby Stephen Drive are concerning to him as well as the residents of the surrounding neighborhood.

Multiple citizens from the crowded meeting room, most of whom were residents of the Currahee Heights Subdivision, which is located adjacent to Skyline Drive and Parkway Drive, to the Southwest of Big A Road, spoke against the rezoning, citing concerns of traffic increases on Parkway and surrounding streets, concerns over the presence of homeless populations, crime, and vandalism, all of which are already a source of concerts at the nearby multi-living residences on Stephen Drive.

Jennifer Halsey, a resident on Parkway Drive, talked to Commissioners about road capacity and drainage issues, as well as other concerns. 

Herman King, a long-time resident on Skyline Drive, pointed out that the rental units on Stephen Drive also started out as workforce housing, but declined over time. 

Following the comments by residents, Wright spoke again, asking commissioners to deny his request.

Commissioners suggested Wright withdraw his request, but Mayor Gail Fry spoke, asking that the commission vote to deny the request instead, so that the city’s position against a rezoning of that property was on record.

The motion to deny the request passed unanimously. Citizens in attendance at the meeting applauded both Wright and the commissioners for their actions. 

Wright indicated that he was still planning on purchasing the three parcels, but would build the multiple-residence housing units on the other two parcels, which are already appropriately zoned, and would re-sell the residential-single zoned parcel.