What's up with the rezoning request?

As you may know, in June 2022, Columbia County approved the concept plan for 51 luxury homes on 50 of the 100 acres of our land, in keeping with existing R-1 zoning and the County’s Vision 2035 policy document designating all this land for single-family homes on large lots. Our engineers are now completing the final design work, and we plan to solicit infrastructure bids at year-end. Ideally, we’ll begin selling lots at the beginning of 2023, depending on the economy and what the Fed does in November.

After receiving County approval for the neighborhood, we began finalizing the neighborhood amenities, including a clubhouse and pickleball courts. Because there exists no zoning consideration for a neighborhood clubhouse, it was suggested in talks with the County planning department that a small piece of land be carved out and assigned a special S1 zoning to accommodate the neighborhood clubhouse. We like the S1 zoning suggestion as it allows the County to require the neighborhood HOA to follow predetermined rules, such as keeping all music inside of the building so as not to disturb the neighbors. As the closest neighbors to the clubhouse, our family highly approves of this rezoning suggestion.

The clubhouse will be controlled by the rules of the Timber Creek HOA. It will be used by HOA members for various types of events. Residents of Timber Creek will have access to the clubhouse via a paved driveway from the neighborhood. There will be a second point of access from Mullikin Road. The clubhouse site will consist of approximately 2.6 acres of land, which will be subdivided into a separate parcel off Parcel # 077 050A. A map of the site and surrounding area is provided below.

As for the final appearance of the clubhouse, we are working with a local architect and engineer and have a few concept ideas, but none are finalized.  We intend to preserve the natural landscape as much as possible. Timber Creek will be developed as a conservation-focused neighborhood, and the clubhouse will be designed to blend in with the surrounding forested area.  Landscaping will highlight the native flora and be welcoming to the local fauna. 

In summary, we are requesting to rezone about 2% of the land for the neighborhood clubhouse/pickleball courts (see yellow rectangle below).