By Jeff Gill
A boat and RV storage business off Lights Ferry Road in South Hall, Ga., was approved for expansion by the County Planning Commission in early December.
Anchor Inn RV & Boat Storage at 6127 Lights Ferry Road, approved in 2019 for a 410-space business, was approved for its second phase of expansion to add 172 spaces on 9 acres at neighboring 5871 McEver Road.
Access to the new site will be through an existing entrance on Lights Ferry Road, with no access proposed from McEver Road, according to planning documents. The expansion would have the same hours of operation: 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Anchor Inn sought to rezone the 9 acres from agricultural-residential to highway business.
The business said in a statement that it believes the request “would not create problems for any of the neighbors,” as a storage facility is already operating near the site.
Hall County planning staff recommended approval of the project with conditions. The first phase of the project raised concerns in 2019, including from the city of Flowery Branch. Then-City Manager Bill Andrew said at the time the city had always regarded the area around Lights Ferry and McEver roads as “functioning more as a neighborhood shopping kind of district.”
Lights Ferry Road is a busy road in Flowery Branch, leading to Atlanta Highway/Ga. 13.
Several residents, particularly from the nearby Silverthorn subdivision on McEver Road, spoke in favor of the 2019 proposal.
“We feel like that will be a low-impact business,” said William Baxter, president of Silverthorn’s homeowners association, at the time.
