New businesses, homes near MUV Fitness in Forest Acres get first zoning approval
A request to rezone property for a proposed development at Forest Drive and Brentwood Drive was approved by Forest Acres Planning Commission by an unanimous vote Tuesday night.
Cason Development Group had requested that the properties at 1450-1514 Brentwood be rezoned and incorporated as a second parcel into the existing Planned Development District (PPD) that includes South State Bank, MUV Fitness and Southern First Bank on Forest Drive. Currently, the 2-acre property along Brentwood is the site of 18 rental units. Cason proposes razing those housing units and replacing them with three commercial buildings close to Forest Drive as well as 13 townhomes on Brentwood.
Under the PPD, the commercial buildings will be limited to use by professional offices, libraries, medical offices, artists’ studios, banks and other financial institutions, service and repair establishments, personal services (beauty and barber shops, shoe and garment repair and tailoring) and restaurants without drive-thru windows.
The proposed two- to three-story townhomes would range between about 1,500 to 2,000 square feet per unit with a price point starting in the high $300,000s.
About 40 Forest Acres residents attended the meeting and nearly half voiced opinions for and against the project before the vote by the commission.
While no one was against the project in its entirety, several voiced skepticism over increased traffic in the area due to the development. The back entrance to A.C. Flora High School is within a block of the proposed development and some expressed concern for students who walk to school and have to cross Forest Drive during rush hour.
Forest Acres city administrator Shaun Greenwood said that, according to a conversation he had with a DOT traffic engineer, it would be “highly unlikely” that another light would be added at Forest and Brentwood because of the proximity to existing traffic lights at Forest and Falcon Drive and Forest and Atascadero Drive. Brentwood intersects Forest in between the two.
The proposed plans will next go to the Forest Acres City Council, which will review the plans and hold public meetings before deciding whether or not to move forward with Cason’s development.