Franklin County Reaches Settlement Agreement with Atlanta Developer

After more than a year of negotiations, Franklin County has agreed to a settlement with a metro Atlanta Developer who was denied a rezoning application and conditional use permit last year to build a 399-unit townhome rental community, storage units, and convenience store at the intersection of Highways 51 and 59 in Sandy Cross.

Corridor Development of Lawrenceville and property owners John T. Bond and Clinton L. Bond filed the lawsuit in May 2022 a month after the Board of Commissioners voted to deny both of their applications.

In their suit, Corridor called the Franklin County Commission’s decision to deny “arbitrary and capricious” and a “wielding of Franklin County’s zoning ordinance to prevent the development of a residential and commercial development.”

They also claimed Corridor Development was not given any legally justifiable reason by the Board of Commissioners for denying their application.

At their regular meeting Monday night the Board of Commissioners and Commission Chair Jeff Jacques came out of executive session and announced the settlement.

County Attorney Bubba Samuels then went over the terms of the settlement worked out in mediation between Corridor and Franklin County representatives Commissioner Kyle Foster and Samuels.

Samuels noted there were three settlement options for the Board to consider.

The first option he said would be to allow a scaled-down version of the original townhome development proposal.

A second option, according to the mediation agreement would be for the County to purchase the property at the corner of Highways 51 and 59 from the Bond family for the asking price, which Samuels said is currently in excess of a million dollars.

Samuels said the third option would be to agree to pay Corridor the $85,000 then rezone the property to anything but Agricultural.

After hearing from Samuels the Board voted for the third option of agreeing to pay Corridor the $85,000 and then rezone the property Light Industrial.

Jacques said Tuesday he believes paying Corridor off and rezoning the property is a win for Franklin County.

Jacques signed the consent agreement for the third option Monday night.

That paperwork will now be sent to the Judge and a consent remit order will be issued to both Corridor Development and Franklin County.

County Manager Derrick Turner tells WLHR News once the consent remit agreement has been finalized, the County will begin the process of rezoning the acreage by going through the normal Planning and Zoning procedures.