Parking and Site-Size Questions Still Shadow Proposed Galloway Street Townhomes

Cornelia’s most recent documented discussion of proposed four-family townhomes at 490 Galloway Street ended with questions about whether the property could hold enough parking. At a May 2, 2023 workshop connected to the project’s public hearing, Mayor John Borrow and Commissioner Mark Reed raised parking concerns, and Reed also questioned whether the parcel was large enough for the developer’s plan. The minutes record no vote or final decision.

Those questions go to the center of a proposal that would change the site’s residential zoning and relax development standards. ZKS Properties sought to rezone the property from R1-A to R-2 for four-family townhomes, while also pursuing smaller buffers and setbacks. The amount of usable space and parking could determine whether the project can proceed in the form proposed and how closely it would sit to neighboring areas.

The proposal first appeared on Planning Commission agendas in June, July and August 2022, placing ZKS Properties’ requested shift from R1-A to R-2 before the commission. In June 2022, commissioners also considered a related variance that would reduce the required buffer from 25 feet to 15 feet and the setback from 35 feet to 15 feet. By the May 2023 workshop, the discussion had sharpened into a practical concern about fitting the development and its parking on the site.

ZKS Properties was the applicant seeking the rezoning for four-family townhomes and the reduced buffer and setback. Borrow and Reed, speaking during the 2023 workshop, voiced concern that parking might be inadequate; Reed separately questioned the parcel’s size. The records establish those positions, but do not provide a response from the applicant, a revised layout, or a record of whether city officials found the concerns could be resolved.

The rezoning and variance remain proposals in the cited record, not documented approvals or denials. The agendas show the rezoning request was scheduled for Planning Commission consideration, and the June minutes show the buffer and setback reduction was considered. The later workshop minutes show a substantive dispute over parking and site capacity, but do not show whether the plan was redesigned, conditioned, withdrawn or advanced toward construction.

The next public step would be a later Planning Commission or City Commission record, such as minutes, an ordinance or a decision document, identifying what happened to the requests for 490 Galloway Street. Until such a record appears, it remains undecided in the documented account whether Cornelia authorized the zoning change, granted the reduced buffer and setback, or accepted a design that addressed the parking and site-layout questions. The 2022 agendas also do not identify an exact meeting date for the request’s initial listing.