SOUTH FORSYTH — It appears South Forsyth High School will be getting a hotel for a new neighbor after the request cleared the county commission Thursday night.
The vote was 4-1, with Brian Tam opposed, to approve amended zoning conditions for Brannon South Partners LLC on a parcel off Peachtree Parkway to be used as part of a hotel development. The original rezoning application was approved in 2010.
Plans call for a 15,200-square-foot, four-floor, 120-room hotel, which would be next to South’s softball field, behind the Dunkin’ Donuts on Peachtree Parkway near Ronald Reagan Boulevard.
“There are several tracks that were subject to this zoning,” said attorney Ethan Underwood, representing the developer. “So what we want to do is specify that the hotel use will be exactly what is shown on the application, and that’s the only portion of the property that we allow to have a hotel.”
The previous conditions had prohibited hotels or motels, 24-hour businesses, gaming centers, adult novelty or entertainment stores, pawn shops, pool halls, tattoo parlors or businesses serving alcohol to be developed next to the school.
Under the amended conditions, a hotel, which operates 24 hours, is permissible. Though it had been previously discussed, the condition to allow alcohol sales was not included.
Conditions suggested by the Forsyth County Board of Education were added, among them: a fence on the property; rooms accessible only through a central hallway; and no weekly or monthly rental rates advertised.
Underwood said only those companies with an “upper-mid” star rating, such as Marriot or Hilton Hotels, would be allowed.