Major Rezone Request

More insight from Lee Becker

Dear Friends,

The Oconee County Planning Commission tomorrow night is scheduled to
review the rezone request for a major shopping center on Epps Bridge
Parkway behind the current development. The rezone is the sole new item
on the agenda
<http://www.oconeecounty.com/Government/Planning/PlanningPDFs/PC-Agenda8-18-08.pdf>.
The meeting starts at 7 p.m. in the courthouse in Watkinsville.

The development will put a lot of traffic onto Epps Bridge Parkway and
SR 316. It also will adversely affect McNutt Creek.

As the Athens Banner-Herald
<http://onlineathens.com/stories/081408/news_2008081400170.shtml> has
reported, the entire project hinges on a road that is not yet built--an
extension of the Oconee Connector. The Northeast Georgia Regional
Development Center has raised concerns about the project.

The Northeast Georgia Regional Development Center report is available
here <http://www.negplanning.org/dri/search>.

The Oconee County planning staff report is available here
<http://lbbecker48.googlepages.com/07.11.08StaffReport-Oconee316Associa.pdf>.

It is very important that those of us who travel SR 316 and Epps Bridge
Parkway--that is, almost all of us--learn what will be done with this
project and how the traffic and other concerns will be handled.

Please try to attend the meeting tomorrow night.

Lee

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