FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. – The Board of Commissioners Thursday approved a settlement in a civil action pending in Forsyth County Superior Court that paves the way for the construction of a residential subdivision of 130 units on South Clement Drive near Hwy. 141.

The litigation entitled Alex C. Kliros vs. Tom Brown et. Seq. was originally presented to Forsyth County for a Res 3 designation of 189 units on 90.37 acres. The agreement calls for a change to Res 2 designation and a reduction in the number of units to a maximum of 130. Other compromises reached include the movement of the amenity package from South Clement to the interior of the development, the application of Forsyth County architectural standards, donation to the adjacent Creekstone for the construction of a subdivision monument and covenants that provide for the maintenance of the South Clement roundabout.

Following the reading of the proposed agreement by County Attorney Ken Jarrard, the Board held a public hearing and approved the settlement by a vote of 4-0 with Commissioner Molly Cooper being absent.

In other public hearings, the Board:

• Held the first of two public hearing on amendments to the alcohol ordinance regarding delivery of alcohol, package alcohol, mixed drinks to go, manufacturing and production and sales limits and renewal of conditional licenses;
• Approved a request by Nelson and Jennifer Lafayette (The Peachtree Development Group) for an amendment of zoning conditions and variance of UDC table 11.2 to reduce a rear setback;
• Approved a request by Doman Realty, Inc. to amend zoning conditions on ZA 3998 to change from single-story 3,000 square foot homes to 2,600 single-story homes;
• Postponed a request by Jeffrey and Dawn Johnson for a reduction in a rear setback from 20 feet to 7.5 feet;
• Approved a variance by Vickery Land Co., LLC (Tracey L. Varrone) of a zoning condition to include a private school special education facility;
• Approved an amendment to the UDC relating to timber harvesting;
• Postponed a public hearing on proposed amendments to Chapter 20b related to Specialty Districts within the Unified Development Code.

Under Old Business, the Board:

• Approved RJJ Development request to rezone 20.3 acres from NS, A1 and Res 3 to Res 1 for 27 lots on 20.43 acres northwest of Heardsville Road;
• Approved JKN Ventures, LLC  request to build a 5,390 sq. ft. minor automobile service establishment with 18 parking spaces on 2.17 acres currently zoned Commercial Business District;
• Approved Jonathan Gonzalez request for a zoning amendment to rezone from Agricultural District (A1) and Single Family Residential District (R1) to Commercial Business District (CBD) with a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) for an open air business on 2 acres associated with an existing 1,036 sq. ft. building with 8 parking spaces with the following variances to: 1.) Reduce the front setback from 40 ft. to 24 ft. (UDC Table 12.2); 2.) Reduce the front landscape strip from 20 ft. to 10 ft. (UDC 21-6.5(A)(1)); and, 3.) Reduce the required number of parking spaces from 75 to 8 (UDC Table 17.1) – Parcel 017-055 – District 3 – Director, Department of Planning and Community Development;
• Approved Georgia Sports Arena, LLC request to rezone from Neighborhood Shopping District (NS), Single Family Residential District (R1) and Commercial Business District (CBD) to Commercial Business District (CBD) on 13.92 acres for an office, retail trade establishment, a 6,000 sq. ft. restaurant and a 55,600 sq. ft. indoor commercial recreational facility with a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) for outdoor commercial athletic fields with 315 parking spaces with the following variance to: 1.) Reduce the exterior buffer adjacent to outlots 1-4 from 40 ft. to 0 ft. (UDC 16-4.6(C)) – Parcels 130-049, 130-050, 130-052, and 130-068.

Under New Business, the Board denied a request by Apparao Chithaluri for a Public Hearing regarding an appeal of the Zoning Board of Appeals’ (ZBA) decision to deny a variance on VA210047 (Apparao Chithaluri).