Sugar Hill officials paved the way for new townhomes at the corner of Ga. 20 and Arbor View Way, despite opposition from a nearby homeowner.
City Council unanimously on Monday added about 4.6 acres of land into Sugar Hill’s city limits and rezoned it, which will allow ArborViewGA to construct 28 townhomes. The homes will sell in the mid-to-high $200,000 range, developer John Slappey said.
Ron Williams, who lives next to the future development, called the townhomes “distressing” during a public hearing. He said that half of the townhome residents “would be able to stare into our bedroom window.”
“It would definitely impose an undue hardship on our wellbeing and likely on our property value,” Williams said at the meeting. “Our property will take the brunt of this eyesore and congestion as the site of our single-family home is only about 60 feet from the property.”
Williams asked the council to either outright deny the rezoning or enforce a 50-foot buffer on the side of the development facing his property. The developer initially requested a lowering of the buffer from 50 feet to 25 feet, a similar variance granted to nearby development.
As a compromise, the council will require the developer to have a 35-foot buffer from the property line facing the Williams’ home. The development will also have a 15-foot setback and 6-foot privacy fence.
“That’s the beautiful thing when you have compromise, that nobody wins,” Councilmember Marc Cohen said.
Williams also expressed concerns about “unbearable” construction noise. Officials will monitor the site to ensure noise doesn’t exceed the threshold allowed by local law, Cohen said.
The developer expects to start construction in 120 days, Slappey said. Residents will likely start moving into the townhomes in the next 10 months, he said.
Drivers will only be able to enter the development from Ga. 20, with no direct access from Arbor View Way. Each townhome will be a minimum of 1,000 square feet and have space for two vehicles. No more than 10% of units will be allowed to be leased at one time.
“If you look around, you’ll see why I chose Sugar Hill,” Slappey said. “You can tell that they’ve done a great job planning for the future and designing spaces that attract people that want to come live in the city ... so when you see stuff like that, it makes you want to be a part of that.”
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