Commission approves future‑land‑use changes for townhome site but denies rezoning to R‑6 after finding plan fails some R‑6 standards

The Planning Commission Jan. 28 voted to approve future‑land‑use map amendments for two adjacent parcels along Old Atlanta Road and North Expressway that the applicant proposed to redevelop as a 77‑unit townhome community. Commissioners approved the FLUM amendments but later denied the companion rezoning requests to R‑6 (planned residential community), concluding the submitted site plan did not meet several R‑6 development standards.

Developer representatives proposed combining an 11.54‑acre parcel and a 2.24‑acre parcel for an approximately 13‑acre townhome development. Staff said the parcels fall within the county’s commercial corridor and the North Expressway Improvement Overlay District, which allows residential and mixed uses along the corridor and requires a FLUM amendment for the requested change. Commissioners approved the FLUM amendments for both parcels.

However, staff reviewed the rezoning submittal against R‑6 standards and identified several deficiencies: proposed impervious surface exceeded the R‑6 maximum (25 percent in the package), required amenity and clubhouse elements were missing or insufficiently described, and unit heated‑area figures did not match the R‑6 minimums (staff records cited a 1,250‑square‑foot minimum while proposed unit footprints and heated areas were inconsistent in the submittal). Staff recommended denial of the rezoning until the developer provides a compliant site plan or seeks targeted variances.

Residents from adjacent Sunset and Westmoreland neighborhoods testified in opposition, citing concerns about traffic and congestion on Old Atlanta Road and North Expressway, erosion and drainage, school capacity impacts at nearby Cowan Road schools, loss of trees and buffers, and potential impacts on property values. The applicant said the project was intended to create for‑sale townhomes (not rental apartments), retain buffer trees where feasible, provide stormwater management to reduce current runoff and add sidewalks, and seek private builders interested in home‑ownership product at a stated price tier.

Commissioners voted to deny the rezoning applications by majority, and determined that the companion variance requests (for rear‑entry garages and some amenity requirements) were moot while the rezoning itself was not approved. The FLUM amendments will be forwarded to the Board of Commissioners with the commission’s recommendation to approve the map change but not the associated rezoning.