City of Cedartown reports changes to plan to help with traffic, density questions

A project proposed last month as a zoning change for a planned development is coming back up before the Cedartown City Commission on Monday evening, with enough changes to make new housing more helpful than harmful on land off of Davis Road.

The Cedartown City Commission is expected to hear more about the requested changes that they sought in during the January session, with hopes that the developer Kevin Stephenson would be able to include compromises to help with several issues including traffic and the density of housing.

City Manager Edward Guzman said those changes include a decrease in the number of proposed units for the development on Davis Road, on a stretch of land behind Home Depot that encompasses an area to the rear of Tractor Supply Company. Stephenson originally sought to have over 180 units up for sale in townhome-style properties, but has scaled that down to 178 units.

Some of that is due to a needed right-of-way for Davis Road if the city can come up with future funding for what will become a necessary widening of the roadway in the area that includes commercial, industrial and soon-to-be increased housing.

Another change Commissioners wanted was a second driveway in and out of the new neighborhood, allowing it to connect with the red light at the intersection of Highway 27 North and the turn-in for the Walmart and Home Depot shopping complexes.

That driveway was already an option Stephenson was looking at, but hadn’t included initially in plans submitted to the city due costs for the included roadway. Guzman said the new driveway will come out on an existing driveway stub between Home Depot and Tractor Supply.

Guzman added the city has completed a traffic study of the area as part of an ongoing project for seeking funding to help with widening Davis Road in the near future.

Commissioners tabled the update request for the PD-1 zoning to allow for the project to move forward to the February session being held on Monday to see if those plan changes could be completed before making any decision.

Monday’s vote will decide whether the project moves forward, gets tabled for other reasons not yet addressed or declined and will have to wait for several months before being allowed to come back before the Commission again.

The housing in the area is just one of several projects either underway or nearing their start. Townhome-style residences will be built on South Main Street sometime in 2026 and new neighborhoods are being built on North College Drive and on West Girard Avenue.

Work on the latter is progressing forward after clearing during the first months of the year have given way to grading work as developers get ready to build units on the site. North College Drive has been on and off as plans have needed updating for unexpected engineering changes.