BY JAMES WILLIAMS
Special to the Monitor
KEYSTONE HEIGHTS —City leaders discussed some possible solutions to what many consider Keystone’s eyesore.
Until fairly recently, The China Chef was located at 125 East Walker Drive, aka the corner of State Roads 100 and 21, at the main entrance to the town if you are coming from the north, south, or east.
The 0.165-acre parcel on the southeast corner of East Walker Drive and South Lawrence Boulevard is currently zoned as a drive-through restaurant dating back to 1973 when the then-new building was a fried chicken palace.
The last occupant, the Chinese restaurant, closed. The current owner is listed at the tax assessor’s office as Trishool LLC in Buford, Georgia.
Since 1973, the parcel has been passed along from owner to owner with a series of quit claim and warranty deeds. In 2005, it was traded for $42,700 with a quit claim deed. In 2022, it was sold on a warranty deed for $240,000.
It has been no secret that the city has long wanted something done about what, for a while now, has been called “Keystone’s Ugly Corner.”
At a recent budget meeting, Council Member Steve Hart and City Manager Lynn Rutkowski said that for property owners to use the land commercially, they would have to obtain many exemptions from the city since it’s no longer grandfathered in.
Council member Tony Brown recommended that the city purchase the land and convert it into parking.
Rutkowski responded that the parcel was part of an FDOT study, and the state’s Department of Transportation may provide funding to acquire the corner to improve the intersection.
“We have funds within our City Improvement Plan,” Rutkowski told council members. “I really need an understanding from council on what your priority projects are, so I know how to budget accordingly.”
Brown responded, “There’s nothing that parcel can be. Times have changed over the years since that building has operated. You can’t really put anything there. And I’m always talking about safety. There’s no way you can safely park in that area as designed right now.”
Rutkowski explained, “Two years ago, the city of Keystone Heights went through an assessment of that corner for the traffic study on S.R. 21. They’re in their final revisions now.”
Councilman Steve Hart said the parcel’s future was a planning and zoning issue, and he didn’t see the city’s planning and zoning board allowing much, given that the property was no longer grandfathered in.
Rutkowski added, “Council would have to grant a ton of variances. At $250 per variance, it could be expensive, but the new owners can always apply.”
Given that the location also houses one of two traffic lights in town on two major local highways, Brown said, like everyone else, he has seen bottlenecks there on a reasonably regular basis. “And we definitely need more parking,” he added.
Discussion included parking capacity in the small town, not necessarily needed for day-to-day traffic but sorely needed for the city’s well-attended special programs, such as Keystone’s Halloween, Independence Day, and Christmas celebrations.
“I want people to see another picture of our progress downtown…Get rid of what’s right there and make it look good when people come into town,” Brown said.
The council also discussed its unknowns: what FDOT plans to do with the location. They have yet to consider what the current owner’s response will be. Even if the city condemned the property to take it over, it would still have to pay a fair market value for 0.165 acres of prime commercial land.
Looking ahead to the next step, Rutkowski said, “The next conversation is going to be with FDOT on how we get funding to implement what the (study) found. And can we work with them on what that’s going to look like?”
