Hearing set for East Rome warehouse
♦ The citizen board also will consider a rezoning in the Between the Rivers Historic District.
The owner of a 1.7-acre tract next to the Fielder Recreation Center in East Rome is seeking light industrial zoning to operate a warehouse on the site.
The property was originally developed with a warehouse but was rezoned for a multi-family housing development in 2009, just before the Great Recession hit. The apartments were never built.
On Thursday, the Rome-floyd Planning Commission will consider at a public hearing a request from Stephen Walker to return 1 E. 15th St. to industrial use. The citizen board meets at 2:30 p.m. in City Hall, 601 Broad St.
“The biggest challenges for this parcel,” the planning staff report reads, is that it’s in a flood plain and access is only available via East 16th Street. The street goes through a residential area and Restoration Rome – a one-stop shop for foster care services – is next the Fielder Center.
There also are industrial properties immediately to the west that are accessible from Cedar Avenue.
Several other applications will be heard Thursday.
Leeta Mcdougald is asking for central business commercial zoning for the circa 1855 house and parking lot at 102 and 104 E. Sixth Ave. next to Rotary Park. The property currently carries office institutional zoning and the house is used as an office building.
CBC zoning allows for mixed uses, such as a first-floor restaurant and secondfloor residence. It’s being encouraged in the nearby downtown district due to its flexibility. Parking spaces are not required and buildings don’t have to be set back off the property lines.
Mcdougald did not say in her application what she plans for the property, which is in the Between the Rivers Historic District.
A request from D. Randall Bowen would extend office institutional zoning to a 1.3acre tract on Widgeon Way next to his CPA office at 251 Technology Parkway.
The vacant property is currently zoned for multifamily residential development. The planning report indicates Bowen wants to ensure there won’t be an apartment complex next to his building and he may add an office on the site in the future.
Rodrigo Barahona is seeking a special use permit to add used car sales to his existing car repair business at 2203 Shorter Ave. The property – about a third of an acre – is zoned for community commercial operations.
The planning commission will make recommendations on the applications to the Rome City Commission. The elected board will have the final say following public hearings scheduled for its Aug. 26 meeting.
Also, an application regarding property in Silver Creek will end up before the Floyd County Commission on Aug. 27.
Gita Silwal is asking for community commercial zoning and a special use permit for the gas station, convenience store and mini-warehouses at 4970 Rockmart Highway. No changes are expected but the property is currently zoned for residential use.