A reluctant Dalton-Varnell-Whitfield County Planning Commission has recommended to deny a request by Tammy Winter to rezone from low-density, family residential to rural residential 1.38 acres at 668 Mill Creek Road in Rocky Face. The vote was 5-0.
The commission makes recommendations to the city councils of Dalton and Varnell and the county Board of Commissioners on rezoning requests.
Winter lived in a mobile home on the site. Ethan Calhoun, a planner with the Northwest Georgia Regional Commission who handles staff work for the planning commission, said the structure was “significantly damaged” when a vehicle left Mill Creek Road and hit it.
Calhoun said the mobile home was on the property when the county adopted its zoning law. It was out of conformity with the zoning for the property but was grandfathered in. Since the mobile home was damaged “through no fault of the owner,” Calhoun said the law allows her to replace it but only with a mobile home of the same size or smaller.
The problem is that model is no longer available and Winter wants to place a new, larger mobile home on the site and to do that the zoning would need to be changed.
“We want to keep her in her home,” said Commissioner Jody McClurg.
But the commissioners balked at the rezoning, which they said is not in keeping with the area and could open the door for further rezoning.
“We’d be opening up a Pandora’s box,” said Commissioner Chris Shiflett.
They asked Winter to look again for a mobile home that can be placed on the site. Calhoun said his research indicated that there may be double-wide models that might qualify.
The Whitfield County Board of Commissioners will have the final say on the request.
The planning commission members also voted 5-0 to recommend approval of:
• A request from Bryan Spence to rezone from general commercial to rural residential 0.42 acres on Hill Road in Resaca. Calhoun said the rezoning would allow Spence to build single-family houses or duplexes on the site. Spence said he plans to build two houses on the site and subdivide the property.
• A request from Michael Hill to rezone from general agricultural to heavy manufacturing 28.5 acres at 220 Cross Plains Blvd. in Dalton. Calhoun said plans call for a trucking terminal at the site. Hill said he already has a building near the property and the building he plans to put on the site is similar to the one he already has. He said his company does no manufacturing, just logistics.
• A request by Hunter and Hannah Painter to rezone from rural residential to general agricultural 16 acres at 1656 Trickum Road in Rocky Face. Hannah Painter said they want to farm the property and possibly build a house there.
• A request by Joshua and Jessica Atchley to rezone from heavy manufacturing to general agricultural 6.96 acres at 4690 South Dixie Highway in Resaca. The two want to build a meat-processing plant there and the rezoning would be conditional of receiving a special use permit for that facility.
• A request by Benjamin Cordova and Mary Mendoza to rezone from transitional residential to high-density residential .59 acres at 1905 Abutment Road in Dalton to develop two duplexes.