Council approves Park Place townhomes on Arnold Mill after debate over landfill remediation and buffers

Woodstock, Ga. — The City Council on Sept. 15 approved annexation, rezoning and a conditional-use permit for a 16.36-acre residential project on Arnold Mill Road after extended discussion about soil contamination, methane and stream- and floodplain impacts.

The proposal by Park Place developers would annex two Cherokee County parcels at 268 and 270 Arnold Mill Road, rezone them to R3C and allow townhomes at roughly 5.13 dwelling units per acre. Planning staff and the Planning Commission recommended approval with conditions that require Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) review of a landfill remediation plan, methane controls, FEMA coordination for floodplain changes and added buffering near adjacent homes.

Staff planner Cameron Dunn told the council the site contains a former construction-and-demolition landfill, a 2016–24 tow yard and current auto storage, and is heavily constrained by Rubes Creek, FEMA-designated floodway and floodplain and multiple stream buffers. “In the testing areas the methane levels were shown to be of hazardous volume,” Dunn said, and reports attached to the agenda also identified arsenic and lead above EPD hazardous-site thresholds.

Developer Park Suffolk said Park Place intends a for-sale townhome product and that remediation is essential to…