Rome to get CDL test site

Also, separate plans for a farm retreat and cluster homes are withdrawn.

Also, separate plans for a farm retreat and cluster homes are withdrawn.

A testing site for commercial drivers licenses will be added to the Georgia Department of Driver Services office on Martha Berry Highway in Rome.

The closest CDL sites are in Kennesaw and Dalton, County Manager Jamie McCord said, and it takes about six months to get an appointment.

The Floyd County Commission approved an agreement with the state Tuesday to reconfigure the lot to support trucks. McCord said the DDS office should be able to handle about eight tests a day.

“We’ll get started on this as soon the state finishes its legal review,” he told the board. “It’s a great thing for the community. There’s a lot of demand.”

The state has $500,000 budgeted for the project, which includes a redesign of the entrance, a truck carousel and another overlay of asphalt. McCord said any money left over would be used to upgrade the building.

Commissioners also approved a permit for a Verizon Wireless telecommunications tower on Fosters Bend Road that is expected to improve service in the Alabama Highway corridor.

But two other rezoning requests were withdrawn by the applicants.

Amanda Bohannon’s nonprofit Sweet Cocoon had planned a 19-acre farm retreat for families with critically ill children on Cunningham Road. But she said they just discovered the seller is not the sole owner, so the deal fell through.

“Our plans have not changed,” she said. “We just need land.”

Neighbors in the Callier Springs and Mountain View area were prepared to fight a proposed cluster home community on a 2.6-acre tract where the two roads meet. But developer Sammy Bartley said he’d decided instead to keep the existing High-density Traditional Residential zoning and build on the 10 marked lots.

“After working through the process, we find HTR will work just fine for us,” he said.

Opponents said they still object to the construction, citing drainage problems and the danger of increased traffic on the narrow curved road. However, Commission Chair Rhonda Wallace said no change was being requested, so there was no action open to the board.

“This will go through the Building Department now,” McCord explained. “If

there are any issues, they’ll be addressed at that time.”

Bruce Ivey, the county’s special projects manager, had told commissioners earlier that it’s unclear if more than a few driveways would be permitted

because of limited visibility on the road.

Bartley said he’s already started the permitting process for the project — 1,500-square-foot single-family homes, which he intends to rent.