Zoning board approves 213,000‑sq‑ft warehouse and stream‑buffer impacts after EPD and Army Corps signoffs

The Zoning Board of Appeals on Sept. 18 approved a variance allowing a portion of the City of South Fulton’s stream buffers to be impacted at 4105 Roosevelt Highway so a developer can build a roughly 213,000‑square‑foot light industrial warehouse, after staff amended an earlier recommendation of denial to conditional approval following receipt of state and federal approvals.

Reggie McClendon, the city’s managing director for community development, told the board staff’s recommendation changed after the applicant provided an approval from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) and a nationwide permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. “Subsequently to that, we have received…the approvals from the Army Corps and the EPD,” McClendon said; staff therefore recommended conditional approval subject to the conditions those agencies imposed.

Henry Bailey, counsel for the applicant, described the proposed redevelopment as a company‑led redevelopment of roughly 17 acres. “The developer is seeking to redevelop this site with a roughly 213,000 square foot warehouse facility,” Bailey said. He added the project is expected to create “roughly a 150 to 200 full time jobs” when operational. Antonio Sample, the project engineer, told the board the work will impact about 40,000 square feet of the city’s 50‑foot undisturbed buffer and about 17,000 square feet of the city’s 25‑foot non‑impervious buffer; the Army Corps and EPD approvals are included in the project file.

Sample and the applicant explained the site contains an abandoned DOT right‑of‑way, an undersized culvert that currently discharges trash and runoff directly into the stream, and steep site grades. Their plan reroutes the existing culvert around the new building footprint, treats the site’s runoff with permanent ponds designed to meet state stormwater and water‑quality standards, and reestablishes a controlled discharge point consistent with the Corps and EPD approvals.

Glenda Collins, a nearby resident who registered opposition, urged caution and long‑term maintenance and said she believed a wider buffer might be appropriate. “If this process moves forward, a maintenance process is required…[but] over the years the bankness is not kept up and negative situations occur,” Collins told the board, citing local examples where inadequate drainage maintenance caused problems during heavy rains.

Board action: After discussing the state and Corps approvals and the mitigation requirements those agencies added, the board voted to approve the applicant’s request per staff recommendation with the stated federal and state conditions. The applicant provided copies of the Corps’ permit dated Sept. 17 and the EPD stream‑buffer variance dated June 27, 2025; staff incorporated the agencies’ conditions into the city’s approval package.

Why it matters: The city’s buffer regulations are designed to protect water quality and control stormwater; the applicant’s engineers said the proposed reroute and stormwater design will reduce total suspended solids and improve the current condition where an abandoned roadbed and undersized culvert discharge directly to the stream. Neighbors urged strong maintenance obligations and careful enforcement of conditions.

What’s next: The board’s approval is subject to the conditions required by the Georgia EPD and the Army Corps; staff will monitor compliance during permitting and construction. The record shows the Corps’ permit issuance on Sept. 17, 2025 and the EPD variance dated June 27, 2025. The applicant also told the board it had committed funds toward traffic‑signal improvements at a nearby intersection as part of a separate mitigation and traffic warrant process.

Speakers quoted include Reggie McClendon (city staff), Henry Bailey (applicant counsel), Antonio Sample (project engineer), Greg Bowler (developer KMT Partners), and Glenda Collins (resident opponent).