Perry Planning Commission approves rezoning, citizens against

On Tuesday evening at 6 p.m., the Perry Planning Commission held their monthly rezoning meeting. The meeting was held in the Perry Events Center.

The meeting was comprised of a few rezoning and annexation applications that consisted of case numbers, including old business, RZNE-78-2019 to withdraw the application; that was further approved.

They then continued to new business that consisted of ANNX-0117-2021, zoning properties on U.S. Hwy 41 South and South Perry Parkway that were applied for by Perry Volunteer Outreach Inc., as well as ANNX-145-2021, a zoning of a property located at 1946 Houston Lake Road that was applied for by Chad Bryant. Both properties were approved rather quickly.

One case that was brought to the commissioners that took longer to approve was RZNE-150-2021, a case to rezone a property on Langston Road to develop a two-family residential district.

The proposing party was Steven Rowland with Rowland Engineering in Macon standing in for Garrette Martin Excavating & Hauling, Inc. They are planning to build a 99-unit townhome property.

“We do feel that this is a transition zoning with this property. This cluster-type development in this amount of open space is a good transition from the commercial zoning,” Rowland said.

The opposing party was Scott Westmoreland. He, along with several of his neighbors that were in attendance at the meeting, all opposed on the grounds of too much water already on their property, along with the proposed property bringing in too much traffic.

“We already have a tremendous problem with water on my property… I’ve lived there 21 years, and there was never a water problem until that was built… The tremendous amount of water that is currently coming through my property in heavy rain is much greater than it has ever been,” Westmoreland said.

Many of the residents have been living on Langston Road for several years and are pushing to not have more properties built to help the water issue. They expressed their frustration in an attempt to help their living situation and to continue to live peacefully.

“Just because you have room to put something somewhere doesn’t mean you should do it,” Westmoreland said.

The commissioners discussed the issues relative to the project and took the opposers messages into account. They discussed that there is a proposal to extend and expand Langston Road further.

They came to the conclusion to approve the project to build the 99-unit townhome property despite the comments by the several people on the opposing side.

The meeting concluded with other business applied for also by Chad Bryant as a request to use the Conservation Subdivision standards for two properties. One being a subdivision being built on 1380 Cambridge Drive, as well as a single family subdivision on Perimeter Road.

These two properties weren’t for public hearing and were both recommended approval.

The next meeting for the Perry Planning Commission is on July 12.

HHJ News