COVINGTON, Ga. — Adhering to recommendations from the city’s Planning and Development staff, members of the Covington City Council unanimously approved the issuance of special use permits March 15 allowing a dance school, an auto body repair shop and a private school to locate within city limits.
The unnamed dance school said to be relocating from Rockdale County will be located in the same shopping center as Ingles and Roses on Turner Lake Road. The property owner was listed as KNA Family LLC. The special-use permit applicant’s name was listed as Shalay Terrel.
The dance school fits the city’s future land-use plan, according to city staff.
No one spoke for or against the special-use permit issuance during a public hearing.
After the hearing was closed, Councilwoman Fleeta Baggett spoke enthusiastically of the dance school.
“This will be asset to the community and will be a great thing to have on that side of town,” she said.
The unnamed automative repair facility to soon set up shop in Covington will be located at 8425 Hazelbrand Road. The property owner was listed as STP Holdings. The applicant was listed as Shane Steele.
Similar to the dance school, city staff said the shop would fit the future land-use plan and would be surrounded by comparable uses, including automotive repair.
No one spoke for or against the special-use permit issuance during a public hearing.
Councilman Kenneth Morgan asked if the applicant planned to sublease portions of the building, since it had office space. City staff believed it would not “based on what was applied for.”
After the permit issuance’s passage, Morgan suggested city staff take note of all future applicants’ plans for potentially subleasing their space.
A new private preparatory school for grades K-8 will be located at 7188 Turner Lake Circle.
Property owner Ricky Mock spoke in favor of issuing the school a special-use permit during a public hearing. He said the school had operated in Conyers since 2011 and was locating to Covington to pick up more students. Mock said it was a Christian school that “seemed to be a good outfit” and could also be “beneficial to the community.”
“They seem to be good folks, and they know what they’re doing, and they’re financially strong and we would appreciate it if y’all could approve them for the building,” Mock said.
The school was unnamed on the application, however the applicant was listed as Georgia Preparatory Schools/Denise White. Mock said the school would be assuming a building that had been home to two schools before — most recently a K-12 private school.
No one spoke against the issuance.
City staff said the school’s plans fit the city’s future land-use plan and approval was recommended by all parties.
Morgan raised questions about the schools security, because it is in close proximity to a local homeless shelter. City staff said the school would install its own security system, but also held a rule where no child is left alone outside.
The hours of operation would mainly be from approximately 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Mock said. But when factoring in before- and after-school programs, students and teachers could be on site from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.
City staff reported that the school planned to stagger release times to maintain positive traffic flow.
