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The teams are gone, but their memories continue to waft the community.

Two developments in the area of Highway 16 and Old Highway 85 near Senoia were approved by the Coweta County Board of Commissioners despite opposition from the public.

In the face of opposition from members of the public, the Coweta County Board of Commissioners approved two commercial developments near Senoia at their meeting Tuesday.

The board approved the rezoning of 3.372 acres of land on 6599 Highway 16 East from Rural Conservation, or RC, to C-8, or Heavy Commercial, for the purpose of constructing a storage facility, and the rezoning of 1.045 acres of land on the former roadbed of Old Highway 85 from Rural Conservation to C-6, or Commercial Minor Shopping District, for the purpose of constructing retail space. Be in the know the moment news happens Subscribe to Daily and Breaking News Alerts Email Address

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The storage facility would include a parking area for recreational vehicles, and according to Neal Spradlin, who represented applicant Frazier Properties, the facility would meet a demand that he suggests exists in the area.

“Research has shown us there is a significant unmet demand for storage facilities like this,” Spradlin said. “You know how many houses have been built in our county and specifically in that southeastern part of the county in that area. There are some other storage facilities in the area, but there is an unmet need for storage facilities and outdoor parking.”

Spradlin said that a number of homeowners’ associations expressly prohibit parking of boats, trailers and other recreational vehicles.

The vote was cast in spite of opposition, both in the form of petitions and in the form of public comment, and when the commission voted in favor of the developments, audible frustration could be heard from the public.

Around 400 signatures were made opposing the developments between June 4 and June 21, with many arguing that the development would worsen the traffic on Highway 16, while others suggested that the development would work to harm the rural character of the Senoia area.

During the meeting, residents took aim at commissioners for approving the measure, including Michael Caswell who did not mince words

“What good is this going to do for our community?” Caswell asked. “This is a country community besides these little stores popping up in our houses. What good is this going to do for us? This is going to destroy our area. You’ve got homes, on the other side, you think they want to look at this? You’ve got a school on the other side of that, you want to build this next to a school, with little kids running around the other side?”

Caswell argued the developments were not necessary, and the residents in the community were opposed to it.

“It’s destroying the country environment that Coweta County’s supposed to be,” he said. “That’s why people moved to this area. They want to be in the country. They don’t want to be around all this.”

After the storage facility was approved, the board went on a short break, then held a public hearing for the retail space.

“I’m just wondering, is this a joke?” Caswell said during the public comment portion of the retail space item. “You deliberated 10 seconds but you sat here for 15 minutes trying to accommodate everything he was asking for, do you guys work for him?”

Commissioner Paul Poole who represents the area and who motioned in favor of both developments, responded, stating he didn’t appreciate what Caswell was saying. However, Chairman Bob Blackburn allowed Caswell to continue.

“You have freedom of speech, go ahead,” Blackburn said to Caswell.

Caswell did go on, arguing the proposals didn’t make “a lick of sense.”

“I feel like we’ve not been heard,” said nearby resident Candy Carson. “The petition of 500 people were dismissed without a bit of consideration, that’s a substantial number of people that live in that neighborhood that were impacted by this. We don’t want this, we have to live there every single day, drive past this, and we feel like this is a done deal and we’re wasting our breath.”

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