Other business
Also on Tuesday night, Forsyth County’s planning board recommended approval of the following:
* Greyden Engineering’s request to rezone about 1.3 acres on Buford Highway from neighborhood shopping to a commercial business district for an animal kennel.
* Robert Cheatham’s request for a home occupation permit to operate an automotive garage on a 1.02-acre Raskarity Road site.
-- Julie Arrington
A request to build a chicken finger restaurant in south Forsyth is moving on to the county commission without a recommendation from the planning board.
Two motions failed to garner a majority vote Tuesday night on a request by Carl Williams to rezone about 1.4 acres on Mathis Airport Parkway from neighborhood shopping to a commercial business district.
Plans call for a Zaxby’s restaurant with a drive-through.
Both measures, one for approval and one for denial, resulted in 2-2 votes. Planning Commissioner Matt Murphy did not attend the meeting.
The county commission could take up the matter in September.
Pam Livesay, who chairs the planning board, said Tuesday she had "great concerns" about a condition placed on the parcel next to the site up for consideration.
That condition, approved last year as part of the neighboring property’s rezoning, shows the owner would not seek to rezone the site in question to a commercial business district.
"If it does work out that that is a binding condition, that I feel has to be done through the board of commissioners," Livesay said. "I don’t feel like that is my place to deviate on that condition."
Her motion to send the application with a recommendation of approval to the county commission failed.
The planning board has undergone some changeover since the 2010 decision, with at least two new members.
County Attorney Ken Jarrard said one planning board can’t commit on behalf of a future board regarding a zoning.
He said it appears the condition was the result of negotiations made by the applicant in order to get the previous zoning.
"Is it legally binding for an individual to make that representation and it to be placed in a zoning condition? I have my doubts," Jarrard said.
He added that he didn’t know if the application could be rejected because of the condition.
It’s problematic, he continued, because it refers to a piece of property that was not the subject of the 2010 request and because there’s no time limit on it.
Residents who spoke against the proposal said they had concerns about possible noise, odor, traffic and light pollution from the eatery.
Planning Commissioner Joe Moses moved to recommend the request be denied. That motion also failed.