Rezoning sought to construct 12-building apartment complex across from Athens Kroger superstore

The Kroger shopping center at U.S. Highway 29 and Georgia Highway 72, already an attractive center for commercial development, now is attracting residential development proposals.

At its recent meeting, the Athens-Clarke County Planning Commission recommended unanimously that the full Commission approve both a zoning change and a change in the county’s land use map to allow for a multifamily residential development on 35 acres at McClung Road, directly across from the Kroger Marketplace.

The zoning change would move the zoning of the multiple tracts assembled for the project from general business, single family residential and rural to mixed-density residential.

The county’s planning department staff, which prepared a report on the proposal for the planning commission, took positive notice of the fact that the proposed development would put residents in close proximity to both shopping and employment opportunities, and would also be close to educational opportunities at Athens Technical College.

A concept plan submitted for the site by W&A Engineering, on behalf of Buford-based Lawrenceville Land Holdings LLC, proposes 12 apartment buildings, arranged along and behind a serpentine road through the proposed project. Under the concept plan, the buildings would contain a proposed total of 330 apartments in a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units. A clubhouse, a play area, and preserved greenspace also are proposed for the project.

The rezoning was recommended for approval on the condition that the final project plan include a public right of way connection from McClung Road to the rear of the acreage. That roadway is envisioned as a base for future right of way connections in the area.

Planning Commissioner Kristen Morales was particularly concerned about vehicular and pedestrian traffic in the area in the face of burgeoning development.

“The development out there is fascinating to me, but you don’t want things to spiral out of control and it become an untenable situation,” she said.

County commissioners could hear the requested zoning and land use map changes at their July 16 agenda-setting session, and could make a final decision at their Aug. 6 voting meeting. Both meetings are set for 6 p.m. at City Hall, and both will include opportunities for public comment prior to any commission decision.

The development proposal reviewed by the planning commission on June 27 comes on the heels of another residential project planned for the Kroger Marketplace area.

Athens Flats, a public-private partnership involving the federal Athens Housing Authority, will bring nearly 200 apartments, in one-, two- and three-bedroom configurations, to the intersection of Southwell and Hull roads.

Athens Flats is targeted for people making 60% or less of the local median income.