Hearings set for East Rome duplexes
♦ Plans for a West Third Street restaurant are also on the agenda.
The Rome City Commission is slated to decide Monday if two new public housing duplexes may be built in East Rome.
The Northwest Georgia Housing Authority netted support for its planned unit at 303 E. 14th St. from the Rome-Floyd Planning Commission last month. The citizen board recommended denial of the project at 1312 and 1314 Maple St.
“It doesn’t meet the standards,” Planning Commission member Steve Miller said.
The property is zoned for high-density traditional residential development and a special-use permit is required to build anything but a single-family home. Rezoning the tract for multifamily use is not an option, however, since it’s not large enough to meet the set-back requirement, Planning Director Art Newell said.
Other planning commission members objected to putting the homes on a heavily trafficked main thoroughfare.
The authority has a $460,000 Neighborhood Stabilization Program grant to replace substandard housing at those sites with one-bedroom Section 8 units. Executive Director Sandra Hudson said there’s a long waiting list and these will be for adults who need ready access to public transportation.
Commissioners caucus at 5 p.m. and start their regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. in City Hall, 601 Broad St. Both sessions are open.
The board will hold public hearings on both Housing Authority applications before making a final ruling. Two other proposed land-use changes also will be heard.
Jeff Kehl wants to convert a commercial property at 4 Colonial Drive back to lowdensity traditional residential use.
“All the neighbors would prefer that as well,” his representative, Jimmy Kelly, told the Planning Commission.
The tract, which was being used as a day care, is on the edge of the Summerville Park subdivision.
Also, Brooks Building Group is seeking Urban Mixed Use zoning for a building at 401 W. Third St. next to the Rome Tennis Center. Plans are to open a restaurant in it that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner.
The tract is in the developing River District and has little space available for parking. UMU zoning allows for on-street and off-site accommodations.
“The idea is to make the district pedestrian-friendly ... the overall plan could be a shared deck. A lot of that is going to depend on what happens there,” Newell said.
The planning commission recommended approval of both the Summerville Park and West Third Street applications.
The City Commission’s complete agenda is available on its Live & Video Archive page at RomeFloyd.com.