Henry County commissioners have approved the first part of a proposed grocery store shopping center. The board approved it during September. They must consider a second rezoning request for the project at a later date. The 29-acre site is located at State Route 155 and Bill Gardner Parkway.
Bill Gardner Parkway Grocery Store
MHF News first reported in June that a new grocery store was considering SR 155 at Bill Gardner Parkway. It would be across the street from the existing Publix shopping center.
On September 17, the Henry County BOC considered the first part to the applicant’s rezoning request. Specifically, they considered whether to rezone 11.7 acres from RA to C-2 (general commercial). The request was for retail & restaurant outparcels.
Photos credit Locust Grove Development, LLC.
The site plan has six outparcels. Four sites are labeled for retail use. The last two sites are labeled “tire store” and ”restaurant.” In addition, the site plan has a service station. The outparcels would be located on the north side of Bill Gardner Parkway and east of State Route 155.
Locust Grove Development, LLC has submitted various building renderings to accompany their request. They were Buffalo Wild Wings, Wendy’s, Whataburger, Discount Tire, Tractor Supply and Piedmont Urgent Care. There’s no confirmation whether all or some of these businesses are considering the site.
The board voted 5-0 to approve the rezoning request. Commissioner Anglyn was absent. There are several conditions attached to the commercial zoning. Perhaps most notably are the various prohibited uses. The prohibited uses include the following:
- pawnshops or loan brokers, other than mortgage loan brokers,
- tattoo parlors,
- body piercing shops,
- vape and / or e-cigarette shops,
- laundromats,
- nail salons,
- automobile / car wash, and
- vehicle or equipment rentals as the primary use.
Other conditions require the property to meet the highway corridor overlay district architectural and streetscape standards. These standards address building facades, landscaping and pedestrian paths. Finally, there may be no structures within the runway protection zone of the adjacent Mallard’s Landing airstrip.
Next Steps
Before the project may build, the county must consider a second part to the rezoning request. This is because a portion of the property has an industrial zoning. About three acres, on the northern portion of the proposed development, have a M-1 zoning. The applicant is requesting to change this to C-2.
The zoning advisory board will consider the rezoning request in October. They meet on Thursday, October 10, at 6:30 pm. In addition, they will consider a variance request from development standards.
The board of commissioners will next consider the rezoning request. The request has been advertised for the board’s Tuesday, October 15, meeting. The county commissioners meet at the county admin building in McDonough.
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Master Site Plan
The Bill Gardner Parkway master plan has a 118,337 square feet grocery store. The building size and site layout are similar to a Kroger Marketplace. The company opened their first Kroger Marketplace in Henry County this spring. They have other grocery stores in McDonough and Stockbridge. If this is confirmed, then this would be Kroger’s first Locust Grove location.
Altogether, there are three vehicle entrances into the project. They include two off State Route 155 to align with existing entrances into the Publix shopping center. The site plan depicts a traffic signal at the northern-most entrance. The developer would first require the state DOT’s approval to install this signal. That’s because of its location on a state highway. In addition, there’s an entrance off Bill Gardner Parkway.
Finally, two more outparcels and auxiliary shop space round out the site plan.
Featured image shows an aerial photo of highway 155 and Bill Gardner Parkway. Georgia Drone Pros photo with added road names.
