Planning Commission approves Coppers landscape plan at 635 Highway 74 South

The Peachtree City Planning Commission approved a landscape plan for an expansion at 635 Highway 74 South (Coppers, formerly Osmos) on Dec. 9, accepting an alternative compliance request for part of the tree requirement.

Staff said the expansion adds 18,364 square feet of impervious surface, which triggers a minimum planting requirement of 54 caliper inches of overstory trees and 36 caliper inches of understory trees. The applicant proposed 36 inches of canopy and 27 inches of understory (roughly 67 percent and 75 percent of the respective requirements) and requested that 30 percent of the requirement be satisfied through the city’s tree-fund alternative compliance method. Staff recommended approval, finding the constrained site and limited planting zones made full on-site compliance difficult.

Jason Walls of Highland Land Planning, representing the applicant and the property owner (South Tree Enterprises), told commissioners the expansion area is a compact industrial space with limited planting room because of an on-site tower, above-ground utilities and operations tied to the building’s industrial function. Walls said the planting areas are primarily visible only from within the complex, not from Highway 74, and he requested flexibility for field adjustments during a pre-installation conference with planning staff.

Commissioners asked whether the proposed species were native and whether additional on-site planting was feasible; the applicant confirmed native species were proposed and said the project team would host a pre-installation layout meeting with staff to make field adjustments. The motion to approve the landscape plan carried by voice vote.

Next steps: the applicant will complete final landscape plans, participate in the pre-installation conference with planning staff and implement planting and any tree-fund payment per the city’s approved alternative compliance procedures.