Supporters And Opponents Of Convenience Store On Eastern Edge Of Oconee County Turn Out For Planning Commission Meeting

The smallest project in terms of acreage on the agenda of the Oconee County Planning Commission on Monday night produced the largest citizen response.

Nine citizens came to the podium to speak against a proposal by Pat and Marsha Halloran to build a country store–in the language of the development code, a convenience store--at the intersection of Bob Godfrey Road and Belmont Road on the very eastern edge of Oconee County.

Nine people also came forward to oppose the proposal, though two of them hedged, saying that they were primarily concerned about traffic and less about the country store itself.

In the end, the Planning Commission voted 6 to 3 to recommend to the Oconee County Board of Commissioners that it approve the country store designed, according to the Hallorans, to provide needed services to the Wolfskin Community at the intersection of Clarke, Oconee and Oglethorpe counties.

In other action Monday night, the Planning Commission approved in a 6-2 vote a plan for a ministry college not far from the proposed convenience/country story on the former Green Hills Golf Course and Country Club.

The Commission approved a modification of the zoning for Downs Creek subdivision off Daniells Bridge Road and approved a rezone request for expansion of Watkinsville First Baptist Church on Simonton Bridge Road just outside Watkinsville.

The Commission postponed action on a rezone request for a residential subdivision east of Butler's Crossing at the request of developer Stonebridge Partners LLC.

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

Pictured: Discussion Of Ministry College Rezone.