Oconee County Commissioners Being Asked To OK Slab Construction

The Oconee County Board of Commissioners Tuesday night will be asked to decide if it wants to modify its 2007 rezone for a 100-acre subdivision on Malcom Bridge Road to accommodate the request of the developer to allow construction on raised slabs.

The Board of Commissioners in 2007 specifically stated that all houses constructed within the development were to be built using a crawl space or basement foundation, and the current land owners are asking the Board to overturn that decision.

Slab construction has come up several times in recent years, as moribund developments have come back to life and new developers want to modify the originally-approved plans. Slabs are allowed in the county’s Unified Development Code.

S.R. Companies of Cumming wants to develop what is being called Malcom Bridge Estates and argues that crawl spaces have moisture problems if not maintained correctly and that slabs are the modern way to do construction.

The Planning Commission didn’t agree and recommended denial in a 5 to 4 vote on Oct. 16. The staff of the county’s Planning and Code Enforcement Department also had recommended denial.

With an agenda dominated by rezoning hearings, the Board of Commissioners also is being asked Tuesday night to rezone part of the parking lot of The Church of the Nations on Old Macon Highway for construction of two office buildings in a fast-developing section of the county.

More details on the rezone requests are at Oconee County Observations.