Stonecrest planning commission defers text amendment to replace "planning director" with "community development director"

STONECREST, Ga., June 3, 2025 — The Stonecrest Planning Commission on Tuesday voted unanimously to recommend deferral of a proposed text amendment to Chapter 27 of the city’s zoning ordinance that would replace references to the “planning director” with “community development director.” The commission said it wanted more time for public outreach and for city council clarifications before forwarding a recommendation.

City Attorney Alicia Thompson presented the item, identified in the agenda as TMOD 25-003, and described it as an administrative update. “This item is simply text amendments to the city's zoning ordinance chapter 27,” Thompson said, explaining the edits align job titles in the code with the city’s current organizational structure.

The amendment would change language across Chapter 27 so that decisions and authorities now written as belonging to the planning director instead refer to the community development director or that director’s designee. Thompson said the changes are intended to reflect how the city is organized now and that the text amendment must still follow normal procedure: it must go before the Planning Commission, the Community Public Information Meeting (CPIM), and then the City Council for final action.

Commissioners pressed for details about scope and chain of authority. “Who is the community director and that person's staff?” Commissioner Joyce Walker asked during discussion. Commissioners raised concerns that placing multiple divisions — planning and zoning, building, land development and code enforcement — under a single community development director could affect how planning decisions are made and how that role relates to the city manager and the charter.

Thompson responded that Shawana Cowie holds the community development director title and that the amendment is intended to align the code with the city’s current practice and recent budget and personnel changes. She told the commission that organizational changes and any title adjustments will be addressed through the council’s HR and budget processes and that the text amendment would be updated to match those decisions before final council consideration. Thompson also emphasized, “in no way and this is in no way is the city, kind of eliminating or, doing away with planning and zoning.”

A motion by Commissioner Lemuel Hawkins to recommend approval of TMOD 25-003 received no second and therefore died. Chair Commissioner Eric Hubbard then moved to recommend deferral to allow the city to present results of the upcoming public meeting and any council decisions; Commissioner Joyce Walker seconded. The commission recorded a unanimous recommendation to defer the amendment (3–0, three commissioners present).

Next steps identified in the meeting: a CPIM session on the item is scheduled for June 4, 2025, and the text amendment will return to the Planning Commission and then to the City Council for final action later in June. Thompson reiterated that the amendment cannot be adopted until the full review process — Planning Commission, CPIM/public input, and City Council vote — is complete.

The commission adjourned after the vote; no other substantive zoning items were considered at the June 3 meeting.