A proposed tire store on Ga. Highway 20 south near Target is drawing some opposition from residents who say it would cause noise and visual unattractiveness near their homes.
The 1.75 acre triangle of wooded land between Ga. Highway 20, Miller's Chapel Road SE and Old Miller's Chapel Road SE sits on the very southern tip of the city limits in the mixed used village overlay district.
At a public hearing Wednesday night at the Conyers City Council, applicant John Weaver of Kauffman Tires, the potential purchaser of the land, said the land owner had asked that the city council table the application to give more time to address public complaints. The council voted unanimously to table to the application until the first city council meeting in May.
Some of those complaints, heard at the March 10 Conyers-Rockdale Planning Commission meeting, included potential noise and traffic.
Weaver addressed some of those issues before the city council. He said his business would be about 60 percent tire sales and 40 percent oil changes and would not handle repairs. The business hours would be from 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. and other Kauffman Tires stores averaged about four customers an hour, outside of high volume times at lunch and end of the day. "We don't feel like that's a huge contribution to the traffic flow," he said. An office building on that land would require space for about 77 cars he said. His tire business would require space for about 33 cars.
He would also apply for a septic tank, since the Rockdale Water Resources sewer lines were 1,700 feet away and would cost $110 per foot to extend the line to the potential business.
The land sits right across from the entrance of the Irwin Place subdivision, which has about 190 homes. John Conyers, president of the Irwin Place Home Owner's Association, said the home owners were against the business in that location.
Area resident Fred Straub pointed out that land was the first piece of city property that could be seen coming up Ga. Highway 20 and that it was near a very attractive shopping center. "Allowing the auto repair tire goes against the proposed uses of the overlay" district, he said, adding, "You only get one first impression."
Weaver said an articulated brick wall would be built around the business and the building would be on a lower level than the street and would not be easily seen.
The Conyers-Rockdale Planning Commission had recommended denying the special use permit request for the automotive parts and accessory store. Conyers city staff had also recommended denial of the application.
In other city council business:
The council approved a price schedule for Geographic Infomation System data normally requested by engineers and developers and an agreement that reportedly prohbits the purchasing party from selling the data to other users.
"We don't have a problem releasing the data... it's our property," said Planning and Inspection Services Director Marvin Flanigan of the data.
The prices range from $50 for city limits to stormwater GIS information at $100 to aerial photography at $1550 for a layer.
For more information, call 770-785-3805
