Those with residential properties surrounding 728 Cassville Rd. could have a new warehouse as the center of their neighborhood. The Bartow Planning Commission voted Monday night to approve a recommendation both a land use map change and rezoning the property from low-density residential to industrial. It now goes to the county commissioner.
The group 728 Cassville Holdings LLC filed the request. The property sits behind another business structure that the company, located in Jessup, Ga., plans to use for cabinet production. It wants to build a 20,000-square-foot warehouse on the empty lot for its products and supplies.
A representative of the company explained that its rent at its other facility is expiring and they want to start making the move to another located they own. The move could take two-years.
Engineer Cary Rhodes of Rhodes Engineering said other nearby properties are already zoned industrial, including the original building. The concern, according to board members, was the empty lot where the warehouse would be was nearly encircled by residences.
One of the issues is that the county requires 200-foot buffer but Rhodes said that won’t work with this property because it is narrow. That would encompass the entire property. He is recommending only a 15-foot buffer between the edge of this property and nearby residential properties.
The company plans on putting up a 10-foot steel fence and will leave trees to buffer but board members weren’t convinced. David Lanham asked the company representative if he has moved to Bartow County yet. He said no but plans to move in the next two to three years.
“How would you feel if you were one of those residents and you had to look at a steel wall? If this was going next to you?” Lanham said.
Planning commissioners asked whether true millwork was going to be done building cabinets from scratch of if the company was assembling the pieces sent from overseas. They would be built from scratch and handcrafted, according to the company.
Board members voted to recommend the rezoning and land map change to Bartow County Commissioner Steve Taylor. However, it didn’t address the request for a reduced buffer. Taylor will have the final say in his meeting Aug. 5 beginning at 10 a.m. in the commissioner’s meeting room of the Frank Moore Administration Building.
Melody Dareing is a freelance writer for publications in the U.S, Canada, the UK and Germany. She is a former news director of Adelphia Channel 4 and WBHF Radio. She is on Facebook, X, YouTube, content on Substack, and has a podcast on Rumble.