- City leaders voted 3-2 to move forward with potential rezoning changes at the corner of Ox Bottom and Thomasville Roads.
- Some neighbors are not excited about the possibility for those new businesses. Others wrote to the city in support.
- Watch the video above to hear from neighbors around the project.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Construction is coming along at near the intersection of Ox Bottom Road and Thomasville Road.
I’m following up on the plans for this site as neighbors voice their concerns to city leaders.
Freddy Kaye has fond memories of spending time at the property on the corner of Ox Bottom and Thomasville Roads.
“My in-laws used to live there. There were deer, 20 wild turkeys at a time,” Kaye said. “A pond where people used to fish.”
He said the area has lost it’s natural beauty.
“Now, it’s the moonscape from what it looks like,” Kaye said.
The scene has changed drastically since 2018 when the area was rezoned for commercial use.
Now, construction has begun to prep the site for development.
The owner has also made a request to rezone the area to allow gas stations and fast food restaurants, as well as an extension of Velda Dairy Road to go through.
The city commission voted to move that forward in their meeting Wednesday.
Kaye said we have enough of in the area and could hurt wildlife and voiced those concerns at the meeting.
“The environmental impact of a gas station is just wrong because everything flows downhill and there’s already three gas stations up the road maybe five minutes away,” Kaye said.
Not everyone agrees.
I dug through public records to find any comments sent into the planning department about the change.
Forty-five people wrote in with about half in support.
One neighbor in support of the project wrote: “I believe the Bradfordville area could use more commercial services and the proposed light will help the dangerous traffic situations that occur on that road.”
Thursday morning, I reached out to Justin Ghazvini. He who works with Premier Group, the developer behind the project. He did not return my call before five Thursday.
I spoke with Ghazvini a few weeks ago. He said there are no set plans for the site.
Kaye says many of his neighbors hope a gas station or fast-food joint is not a part of the plan.
He told me he has an idea.
“Let the city buy it from the private company and create a wonderful area for the entire northeast or whoever wants to use it,” Kaye said.
There will be a public hearing about this change in December where neighbors like Kaye can voice their concerns.
