Eastville Car Museum Receives Variance Requests

Tony Townley won’t have to meet county standards requiring a 15 foot setback in the front yard of his Eastville Car Museum.

He also won’t have to move four existing silos, a windmill, and a water tower from the front yard of his property at Snows Mill Road and Cole Spring Road, even though they violate the county’s Unified Development Code.

He doesn’t have to install sidewalks around the property, as required by the code, or buffer his office and museum complex from surrounding residential properties.

The Oconee County Board of Commissioners approved these requests by Townley Family Partnership LLLP on Tuesday night as a follow-up to action it had taken earlier in the month.

At that earlier meeting, the commissioners failed to clarify which of the conditions recommended by the county planning staff it approved.

The Commission also approved tentatively 41 alcohol applications for renewal for 2019, an increase of four from 2018.

The commissioners put the alcohol licenses on the consent agenda for final approval at their regular meeting, which begins at 6 p.m. on Tuesday at the Courthouse in Watkinsville.

Early voting for the runoff election on Tuesday ended on Friday, with 3,351 out of the county’s 27,538 active, registered voters casting a ballot, or 12.2 percent.

For more on the story, with a video of the Board of Commissioners meeting, please go to Oconee County Observations.

Pictured: View of Car Museum submitted as part of application for variances.