Demorest’s Fisk Avenue multifamily permit remains unresolved after second-reading agenda item

Demorest City Council placed a special-use permit request for multifamily residential use at 415 Fisk Ave. on its June 9 agenda for consideration and a second reading, the latest documented step for the 4.14-acre proposal by Alan Baker and Philip Smith. The agenda identifies the item but does not report what happened after it was called, leaving unanswered whether council approved, denied, amended, conditioned or deferred the request.

The missing result carries practical consequences for the Fisk Avenue property: the permit would determine whether multifamily residential use may proceed there. For neighbors and the applicants, the dispute concerns more than a meeting agenda item; it concerns the future use of a site where residents have raised questions about traffic, runoff and fit with nearby properties, while the applicants have described a possible new use for a long-vacant building.

Council first scheduled an April 7 public hearing on Baker and Smith’s request. Habersham News reported afterward that the council heard neighbors’ concerns and that no final vote was taken because the request required a second reading. A May 5 agenda again scheduled a hearing, but it did not state an outcome. A June 2 agenda repeated May 5 hearing language rather than documenting new action, before the June 9 agenda advanced the matter to scheduled consideration and a second reading.

According to Habersham News’ account of the April 7 hearing, nearby residents objected chiefly over increased traffic, stormwater runoff and compatibility with surrounding properties; one property owner also described erosion concerns and sought added environmental protections if the project moved forward. Baker and Smith, as characterized in that report, argued that multifamily use would be less intensive than commercial uses allowed under the existing zoning and could help revitalize the vacant building. Those are reported positions from the hearing, not a documented council finding.

The hearings and the June 9 agenda listing are documented, but a permit approval is not. The April news report says no final vote occurred that night, while the April and May agendas merely schedule hearings. Likewise, the June 9 item announces consideration and a second reading rather than recording a completed decision. The record does not establish revised plans, permit conditions, construction, or authorization to begin multifamily use at the site.

The next public step is a Demorest council record that states the result of the June 9 item. It would need to show whether the special-use permit was approved, denied, amended, made subject to conditions or deferred. If council postponed or altered the request, that same record should clarify whether Baker and Smith must return for another council action. Until then, the Fisk Avenue proposal remains an unresolved land-use request rather than a documented authorization for multifamily development.