Council tables hotel-to-apartment conversion; resident urges clearer density criteria and updated transportation plan

Peachtree Corners Mayor Mike Mason and the City Council voted on Jan. 28 to table the second reading of a special use permit for a hotel-to-apartment conversion at 7065 Jimmy Carter Boulevard after staff asked for more time to study the project's programmatic elements.

Resident Don Gasparri used the meeting's public-comment period to press the council for clearer land-use standards and planning updates. "I have 4 things I'd like to ask the city to consider," Gasparri said, urging the council to reconsider the small area plan's Town Center Gateway designation, publish objective criteria for low/medium/high density and traffic-volume thresholds, begin a new comprehensive transportation plan, and hold quarterly town-hall meetings that include a quorum of council and staff.

City Manager (name not specified) told the council the hotel-to-apartment conversion is a new project type for the city and recommended tabling the hearing "in order to further study the programmatic elements to this project in an effort to ensure our conditions adequately address the concerns and need of the city prior to it going to a final vote." The council moved and seconded the staff recommendation and approved tabling by voice vote; individual roll-call tallies were not specified in the record.

At the same meeting staff introduced four zoning- and land-development-related first reads: an amendment to the driveway section in Chapter 34 of the city's Land Development Regulations; a proposed amendment to combine the Planning Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals into a joint board; and two new zoning districts in the zoning ordinance'an Infill Residential Development (IRD) district and a Residential Single-Family Stacked Townhome (RSTH) district. These items were presented as first reads only; no final action or vote was taken.

Gasparri said the city's recently adopted small area plan (approved last December) assigns a high-density designation to the Town Center Gateway and asked the council to reconsider that portion of the plan in favor of mid-density for parts of the gateway area. He told council members he could not find published definitions for low-, medium- and high-density on the city website and requested a response to his formal records request.

Gasparri also urged the council to start a new comprehensive transportation plan, noting the city's current plan was completed in 2017 and relies on data from about 2012. He asked that staff or counsel respond to his earlier requests and recommended periodic town-hall meetings to give residents a chance for direct discourse with the mayor, council and staff.

Next steps: staff said it will further study the hotel-to-apartment application and return to council at a later meeting with recommended conditions; the four zoning-related amendments will proceed through the standard ordinance-committee and second/third-read process as scheduled.