MORGAN COUNTY
The Madison City Council approved a conditional use permit at its June 12 meeting that will allow a local developer to construct an apartment house.
Zachary Williams, the owner of Z. Williams Development Company, plans to construct a single apartment building containing four apartment units.
It will involve merging two existing parcels of property into a single parcel, resulting in a combined area of 1.28 acres on Bramblewood Drive off of W. Washington Street.
According to a letter Williams wrote to the city’s zoning staff, the building will offer “comfortable living quarters comprising four new three-bedroom and two-bathroom apartments equipped with modern amenities such as energy-efficient appliances, washer/dryer hookups, ceiling fans, full kitchen, and LVP flooring. The site will also feature on-site parking, picnic tables in the back, and a community garden.”
“Our goal is to target families and individuals with 50%-60% of the Area Median Income (AMI) and provide them with affordable and safe housing within the community,” Williams said in his letter. “The apartment house will be situated behind the Madison Villas and designed to be less visible from West Washington Street. As a native of Madison, Georgia, and a local real estate developer, I am aware of the demand for workforce housing in Morgan County, and my plan is to contribute to fulfilling that need.”
According to city documents, there are already apartment houses at 270 N. Second Street and 393 E. Central Street.
The two properties Williams wants to develop already have an approved conditional use for duplexes (one on each property).
There will be no change in terms of overall density or impact as four units can be built regardless of any action taken on this request. The resulting combined tract will be 1.28 acres total in area and meets the requirements for R4 which needs .25 acres for each dwelling.
The Madison Planning Commission took up the request at its May 18 meeting and recommended approval unanimously by a vote of 6-0 with conditions suggested by staff.
Those conditions include stipulations that the permit will expire if no permits are drawn within 12 months of approval, and if construction has not begun within 18 months of approval. Also, the applicant will be required to merge the properties prior to construction.
According to city documents, the property is zoned Small Lot Residential (R4) and has been zoned this way since 2005. In 2012 it was approved for duplexes. Apartment houses are a conditional use in R4.
“The use has been approved for duplexes in earlier zoning decisions,” city staff noted in its comments. “The request for an apartment house may make the development act as a better transition from the southern portion of Bramblewood Drive and the detached dwellings on the northern end of the street. No significant change to environmental impact during development is seen in this approval. The end result may have more green space or undeveloped area in the end, however, than the two permitted duplexes.”
George Coates of Madison spoke in favor of the conditional use permit during the council’s public hearing on the matter. Coates said Morgan County needs more affordable housing, and the apartment house is a step in the right direction.
City Planner Monica Callahan said parking at the site should be moved away from the front yard and down an adjacent driveway.
Callahan said a “parking lot” in the front yard is not compatible with the surrounding dwellings.
Councilman Ed Latham made the motion to approve the conditional use permit and thanked Williams for investing in the community. Approval was unanimous.