COVINGTON, Ga. – After years of revision and revisiting, the Covington city council has given the go-ahead to a mixed-use development proposal that would bring a plethora of new homes to the city.
The Quarry @ Neely Farms, a project that has been in the works since 2021, was green-lighted when they were awarded a special use permit (SUP) with conditions at Monday’s city council meeting.
A long history
Project applicant/developer Chris Folgman has been attempting to create a mixed-use development of this nature for years. A 2021 proposal drew comparison to The Avalon in Alpharetta.
The city previously denied two similar SUPs in October 2023. The following month, The Quarry @ Neely Farms, assisted by Attorney Joshua Scoggins, filed suit against the city. This litigation appears still underway with a filing as recent as May 29.
City Attorney Frank Turner Jr. mentioned during the discussion that the city was in a “settlement negotiation,” though he did not say verbatim if this was a reference to the lawsuit over past SUPs.
Now that the SUP has been granted, the future of the lawsuit is unclear.
The current proposal
As the city of Covington has updated and changed its development ordinances in the past few years, the current proposal is smaller than that of 2021. This was explained succinctly by Councilman Travis Moore in a Facebook post on Tuesday morning.
“228 townhomes were removed from the original plan,” Moore wrote. “The property is zoned for neighborhood mixed-use, and the developer is staying within the allowed density per acre — which, as many of you remember, was cut nearly in half by the Council last year.”
The preliminary plan, on an approximately 72.75 acre mixed-use plat, would see a density made up of 125 townhomes, 330 multifamily/cottage/condo units and 59 mixed-use residential units restricted to people over 55 years old. Folgman confirmed to The Covington News that some of the residences would be rentals and some would be available to own.
Documents obtained by The News place the project at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue and Covington Bypass Road. It appears to be behind Covington Ford and Nitro 2 Go Beverages.
A promotional video presented to the council shows several renderings of how the developers envision the neighborhood to look at full buildout. In addition to the variety of residences, the proposal includes shops, kayak/small boating areas, potential fishing spots and other standard resident amenities.
“If we stick to this plan, you will get what you see in that video, or better,” said Judy Thagard, planning and development director for the city. “If you will allow staff to hold the feet to the fire, you will get that development, and it will be something that everyone can be proud of.”
Council deliberation
Folgman spoke favorably about the plan to the council. Most of the resulting discussion surrounded the intersection in front of Nitro 2 Go, where the developer plans to install a traffic light.
The plans have been sent to the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) for review. The applicants await approval and a permit.
One of the many conditions associated with the development requires the developer to remit a $2 million performance bond to the city of Covington within 18 months of acquiring the GDOT permit. This is, according to the condition, “for the performance of completing a signalized intersection at Nitro to [sic] Go.”
This stoplight took up the bulk of council discussion Monday night, with Councilman Jared Rutberg particularly vocal on the topic.
Council members wanted some written reassurance that the project would hinge on this traffic light. Rutberg detailed a hypothetical future where GDOT ultimately denies the permit.
“I fully believe you guys are going to go and want to build [the stoplight], I mean, there’s no question in my mind about it,” Rutberg said. “But what if GDOT ends up being the holdup? I mean [hypothetically, if] they flat out say ‘We decided we’re going to widen the road in ten years, we don’t want this built right now cause we're going to do this later on.’ What if that happens? And that is a realistic possibility.”
Folgman expressed confidence that the GDOT permit will be approved, but the city sought more certainty in writing.
After negotiations that ultimately included input from Thagard, Scoggins, Turner and the other council members, Folgman agreed to a condition where the city will not issue a building permit to begin vertical construction on the site until a permit is received from GDOT.
Public concerns
As the agenda item was listed as a public hearing, the public was invited to speak for or against the proposal.
Four people, each of whom identified themselves as living near the proposed development, opted to speak against.
The first three speakers were all residents of the Wildwood community, which is just south of where The Quarry @ Neely Farms would be.
The speakers highlighted several effects of the development that they foresee adversely affecting their daily lives, such as increased traffic during construction and a greater need for security and emergency services.
“I think that this is excessive,” said Tabatha Lamadieu, a citizen commenter. “I think that it makes me want to sell my home and leave. And I don’t think I’m going to be the only homeowner who feels that way…The people who’ve been there for years, we are very afraid that this is going to cause harm and detriment and crime increase.”
Other speakers raised several questions that were not directly addressed in the meeting, such as whether the residences will be to rent or to buy, what an estimated buildout time looks like and how they will ensure compliance with city noise ordinances.
“We love our community,” said Chaka Robbins, another citizen commenter. “We want to stay here. But I really think this will push us out.”
The Vote
Despite public dissatisfaction with the proposal, the council gave the project the go-ahead.
In a motion made by Moore and seconded by Rutberg, the city voted 5-1 to approve the SUP. Councilwoman Kim Johnson voted ‘no,’ though she offered no immediate reason why.
Most of the council’s discussion hinged on the technical aspects of the proposal. Among other topics were Fire Chief Joe Doss addressing concerns surrounding emergency service response capabilities and Councilwoman Charika Davis questioning the safety of electric vehicle chargers near water.
Overall, the conversation focused on specific aspects of the development.
If any of the council members were considering standing in opposition to the project in its entirety, it was not the forefront of the conversation. Similarly, sweeping comments in general approval of the development were few in number.
But in his Facebook post the following morning, Moore laid out four key reasons he supported the project:
“I supported this project because:
It aligns with our comprehensive plan to avoid big, spread-out single-family neighborhoods
It brings in higher tax revenue due to the commercial aspect
The current zoning could have allowed much higher-density single-family development with no mixed-use, signalized light or age-restricted units
The developer will fund a signalized traffic light at Nitro 2 Go — and no building permits will be issued until GDOT approves the light permit. That was a concern Jared shared and the developer agreed to this, and I supported it as well.
Overall, this is a smarter, more balanced project that makes better use of the land, adds amenities, and helps control traffic.”
