A proposal for an industrial development on Wade Orr Road consisting of two warehouses totaling more than half-a-million square feet (SF) is on the agenda for Thursday’s meeting of the Flowery Branch City Counci (FBCC).
The site plan calls for two warehouses, one totaling 226,800 SF and another totaling 346,410 SF, along with associated parking, truck courts, truck terminals, and detention ponds. The site is largely wooded
and contains several streams.
“Council acceptance of the master plan is a condition of Ordinance 503, adopted on October 16th,
2014, which established a rezoning of the parcel from Hall County AR-III – Agricultural
Residential to Flowery Branch M-1 – Manufacturing & Industrial, Light,” the city staff wrote in a memo to the council. “The Comprehensive Plan for the City of Flowery Branch establishes the area as Suburban
Residential. The proposed industrial development does not fall in harmony with the criteria of
the Suburban Residential Character Area.
“The subject property was previously part of a larger area for annexation and rezoning from Hall
County…the total area of annexation and rezoning was +/- 139.66 acres.”
Hall County has objected to the plans for the site at the time and revisited the issue three months ago.
On June 3, county planning and zoning director Beth Garmon wrote “The project appears significantly out of character for this area based on current zoning and development. The surrounding areas are zoned and developed primarily for single-family residential use.” Garmon also noted that Wade Orr Road is maintained by the county and exclusively serves residential developments.
The property borders I-985 to the east and residential subdivisions to the north and west.
The city planning staff is recommending against the applicant’s proposal because it does not comply with the Flowery Branch Comprehensive Plan and would contribute to a number of environmental issues.