Council approves conditional-use permit for drive-through bank at 6344 Roswell Road

The Sandy Springs City Council approved an ordinance on Dec. 16 to grant a conditional-use permit (U-252-2; agenda item 20-25-287) allowing a drive-through facility at 6344 Roswell Road, subject to the two conditions listed in the staff packet.

Planning and Zoning Manager Michelle McIntosh Ross told the council the site is in the commercial-mixed-use (CX-3) character area and staff recommended approval with conditions, including that the drive-through be allowed specifically for bank use as shown on the submitted site plan. During the public hearing, Daniel Blumenthal, who identified himself as representing the applicant and property owner, said the building originally was a bank and the owner’s intent is to operate it again as a bank. "The intent is for this to be a bank," Blumenthal said; he added the property owner has a lease contingent on city approval.

Rhonda Smith, speaking for the Sandy Springs Council of Neighborhoods, urged caution and said published project documents had inconsistent wording throughout the review process, at one point describing the project as a drive-through for a quick-serve restaurant. Smith argued that the language used early in the record could allow other uses to rely on the CUP and asked that any approval explicitly limit the drive-through to bank use. "If this application were for any other specific use, Council of Neighborhoods would likely oppose it," she told the council.

Councilmember Melissa Mueller moved to approve the CUP with the two staff conditions; Doctor Kelly seconded the motion and the council voted to approve the ordinance. The council record includes the motion and the formal vote to approve the item.

The decision implements staff’s recommended conditions and does not change the CX-3 zoning itself; the drive-through component required the CUP because it is a conditional use in that district.