THOMASVILLE- The Planning and Zoning Commission met on September 7, 2023, where they unanimously approved an updated site plan for the Cassidy Farm Planned Unit Development (PUD).

The PUD was previously referred to as Herndon Park, and had proposed numerous single family homes, along with apartments, commercial spaces and open spaces. However, developer Udi Arzi requested to amend the original submitted plan to eliminate the 140 proposed apartments and construct 40 townhomes in their place.

City Planner Kenny Thompson explained the PUD is located across the street from Cassidy Pond Park with a large frontage on Cassidy Road and a small frontage on Old Albany Rd.

The land was formerly an overgrown pecan orchard with no prior structures other than the farm on the lot.

“It is currently zoned as a PUD and was approved in early 2022,” Thompson told the Commission. “It has now been sold and Mr. Arzi is hoping to make some modifications to the Planned Unit Development, specifically around eliminating the apartments that were part of the original proposal and instead having attached single family units, also known as a townhome.”

The original site was approved for 140 apartments on the northern side of the property with 87 single family homes on the southern side of the site and a small commercial portion in the northeast corner.

Arzi intends to keep the 87 single family homes as designed and replace the apartments with townhomes, which would take up the same amount of land area. Additionally, at the request of the Engineering Department, Arzi will be adding an access road for right in and right out on Old Albany Rd.

“For those of you who were here during the initial discussions, some of the concerns from the neighbors, especially from those on Highland, which is the street directly to the south, was without the access to Old Albany Rd. and the light at Old Albany Rd., there would be a lot of cut through traffic, but having a right in and right out will alleviate any of those concerns,” Thompson explained.

Arzi also eliminated the use of vinyl siding, much to the delight of the Planning and Zoning Commission who had multiple discussions about the appearance of vinyl in the PUD.

Arzi plans to replace the vinyl with brick and stone materials on both the townhomes and single family homes.

Following the explanation of the changes requested, Thompson recommended the Planning and Zoning Commission approve the amended site plan and opened the floor for questions.

Chairperson Sam Fink asked Arzi what price points he was looking at for the townhomes, as PUDs do require governmental regulation.

Arzi said his target price is $250,000.

“I can’t make guarantees with the economy, but my plan is to keep it under $300,000,” Arzi said. “The whole approach is to make it a little more affordable and have a bigger buyer pool and I don’t think we are going to have any trouble with that.”

Other members of the Commission had questions for Arzi as well, asking if investors would be able to purchase the townhomes and rent them out.

Arzi told the Commission that investors are not his target, but he doesn’t have a rental restriction.

“The return on investments today for someone who is buying new construction isn’t there,” he said. “So from the nature of it, I don’t think that’s what is going to happen. People can buy homes that are existing and have a much bigger return on investment than a home that is new.”

Fink had one last question for Arzi, asking him if he planned to build the homes in phases or all at once.

Arzi explained that he does anticipate building the PUD in phases, completing the single family homes first, before completing the townhomes.

“It all depends on where the bids come in though,” he said. “Before I hit the road, I like to have everything lined up.”

With all questions answered, the Commission approved the amended PUD, which will now serve as the governing document for the remainder of the building process.