12Stone Church Permit Request to Go Before Planning Commission Next Week

In 2004 and 2006, the now 12Stone-owned property in the 3800 block of Braselton Highway was zoned for retail, service-commercial and office uses. Along with that zoning came a requirement that all buildings have a pitched roof and architectural finishes of glass and/or brick.

The church has requested the existing zoning be modified to include architectural treatments of stucco and stacked stone. 12Stone has also asked the requirement for a pitched roof be removed in order to accommodate plans to construct a new facility at the site.

"In the previous zoning requests in 2004 and 2006, several small buildings in a retail center were proposed; and this style of development lent itself to buildings with pitched-roof architecture," Gwinnett County Planning documents note. "This new proposal is for a substantially larger, 30,000-square foot building, which may more appropriately be constructed with a flat roof." 

The Department of Planning and Development has recommended approval for the request noting the changes would be consistent with the architecture in the immediate area and with overlay district standards.

The request is scheduled to go before the planning commission on Tuesday, Sept. 3. 

Site development for the new facility is currently underway. The 11-acre site at 3858 Braselton Highway, will have an 800-seat auditorium and 570 parking spaces. 12Stone in Hamilton Mill is currently located on Teron Trace. The 1,400-strong congregation is expected to move to the new facility in early 2014.

Also on the Sept. 3 planning commission agenda is a request from the Dacula Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses to build a Dacula Kingdom Hall on a 5-acre lot on Ace McMillan Road near the intersection of Givens Road and Luke Edwards Road. The planning department has recommended denial of that request.

The commission meets at the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center located at 75 Langley Drive in Lawrenceville. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.