Owner Seeking To Delay Decision On Rezone For Shopping Center

The property owner seeking to build a shopping center on the Oconee Connector and Mars Hill Road has requested a deferral of the public hearing on its rezone request scheduled before the Oconee County Board of Commissioners on Feb. 2.

Deferred Tax LLC of Lawrenceville said it needs time to respond to comments from Tuesday’s Oconee County Planning Commission meeting.

The Planning Commission voted 8 to 0 to recommend that the Board of Commissioners deny the rezone request from Deferred Tax LLC for just less than 47 acres at the corner of Mars Hill Road and the Oconee Connector for a shopping center that would include a Publix.

William C. Berryman Jr. of Athens, who represents Maxie Price, the principal of Deferred Tax, in the rezone, sent the request for the deferral by email to Oconee County Board of Commissioners Chair John Daniell at 3:40 p.m. on Friday.

Daniell said in an email message at just after 5 p.m. on Friday that, consistent with the county’s Unified Development Code, “we will discuss and consider the deferral request at our meeting next week.” The Commission has an agenda-setting meeting on Tuesday.

“If approved, we will re-advertise at the expense of the applicant,” Daniell wrote. “If the request is denied, the hearing will proceed as scheduled for Feb 2nd.”

The Board of Commissioners typically votes on the rezone request at the end of the public hearing.

Deferred Tax also had requested and been granted a postponement of the meeting of the Planning Commission, originally scheduled for Dec. 14, saying at that time it needed more time to prepare for the Planning Commission meeting.

For more on this story, please go to Oconee County Observations.