Reported Hayes Wilbanks rezoning could clear a path for multifamily development

A 20-acre Stephens County Development Authority parcel on Hayes Wilbanks Road was reportedly approved for rezoning from Commercial Industrial to Multi-Family Residential at the Stephens County commissioners’ June 27, 2023 meeting. WNEG Radio reported the action June 30, but no official item-result record or other official action record in this proceeding confirms that commissioners voted or that the rezoning became final.

The distinction matters because a completed rezoning could remove a major preliminary step for a developer considering apartments or other multifamily housing on the tract. The Development Authority’s stated aim, as reported by WNEG Radio, was to market land it considers more suitable for residential use and potentially help address workforce-housing needs; it was not a commitment to build housing itself.

The reported request followed an earlier effort involving the adjoining 30-acre tract. Development Authority President and CEO Brittany Ivey told WNEG Radio that the larger parcel had been rezoned for a developer that had it under contract, but that project did not come to fruition. Prospective developers later showed greater interest in the 20-acre site because of its topography, she said, prompting the authority to seek the same multifamily designation there.

Ivey told WNEG Radio that the authority was seeking buyers or developers rather than entering the housing business. She said the Highway 17 Bypass configuration made industrial access difficult, while the land backs up to residences and has nearby sewer infrastructure that could aid residential development. The radio report said no citizens commented during the public hearing; it does not document opposition, support, or views from neighboring property owners beyond that meeting account.

What is reported is a requested and approved change in zoning classification for the 20 acres. What is not established here is an official final rezoning outcome, a land sale, a selected developer, a site plan, a project timetable or construction. Even if the zoning change was completed as WNEG Radio reported, Ivey said a developer would still need site-plan approval before proceeding.

The next concrete public decision identified in WNEG Radio’s account would be county consideration of a site plan if a developer pursues the parcel. Until then, the central questions remain whether the 2023 rezoning was formally finalized, whether a developer will acquire the tract, and what scale and design any proposed multifamily project would have.