FLOWERY BRANCH – The public hearing was held but the scheduled first vote was not; it was tabled until next month.
That was the fate of a rezoning request from South Hall, LLC, which would allow for the construction of fourteen town homes on three lots totaling 1.10-acres along Church Street.
Morgan Brick of South Hall, LLC, wants to have the three parcels rezoned as Central Business District (CBD) from their current Traditional Neighborhood District (TND) classification. A property swap with the city is also part of Brick’s application.
“This includes, as part of the conditions, a land exchange between the applicant and the city,” said Rich Atkinson, Flowery Branch Director of Planning and Community Development.
Atkinson said the city would exchange a portion of the roadway (Knight Drive) that separates two of Brick’s parcels for a rear portion of Brick’s combined three properties. “The transition would help accommodate the Farmers’ Market,” Atkinson said, which is located along Railroad Avenue immediately below Brick’s proposed development.
“At this point staff recommends approval of the request to rezone from TND to the CBD. We recommend approval of the town home use and of the density of 14-units an acre,” Atkinson told city council. “But staff does not recommend approval of the elevations.”
Elevations are artistic renderings of how each side of the project will look when completed.
“So we do not recommend construction approval,” Atkinson repeated. He said the elevations as presented show a finished product that is not representative of the zoning under consideration, especially the absence of front porches. “The buildings, the town homes themselves, we don’t feel are acceptable at this time.”
But Atkinson and his staff were not alone in finding an aspect of the project unacceptable. Half-a-dozen area residents said during public comment that the density of 14 units on one acre of land was not acceptable to them.
Ray Stanojevich lives on Church Street, just steps from the proposed project. “The key here is the Central Business District zoning; all the rules go out the window,” he said. Current TND zoning allows a maximum of 6.5-units per acre; that limitation does not apply to CBD zoning, which is the zoning the applicant is seeking.
Some of those commenting on the rezoning request accused the city council of not caring about citizen concerns and not taking their decision-making responsibilities seriously.
Mayor Pro-Tem Joe Anglin assured those critics that was not the case and had to ask that comments going forward not take on an accusatory or derogatory nature.
“We are not Laissez Faire up here,” Anglin assured the audience. “We take what people say seriously. We know that where people live is important to them and what is around them is important to them.”
Councilwoman Leslie Jarchow made the motion. “I propose that we table this until the November 4th meeting so that we can have the time to review the new information from the architect.”
Councilwoman Amy Farah agreed. “I think the proposal to table would allow time to get the updated renderings…have additional dialogue between council, citizens, as well as the developer…and to seek additional feedback.”
The motion to table the rezoning application until November 4th was approved unanimously.
