Mableton planning commission denies rezoning but approves 2‑year temporary permit for long‑standing commercial site
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Summary
The commission denied a request to rezone 6671 Mableton Parkway to neighborhood retail commercial (NRC) but voted to recommend a 2-year temporary land use permit with staff conditions—including prohibitions on gas stations, auto-related uses, tobacco/vape sales and requirements for canopy/billboard removal and buffers—then referred the item to city council on Jan. 28.
MABLETON, Ga. — The Mableton City Planning Commission voted Jan. 8 to deny a permanent rezoning request for 6671 Mableton Parkway but recommended a two‑year temporary land use permit (TLUP) with conditions, sending the item to the Mableton City Council for final action Jan. 28.
Staff recommended denying the rezoning application, saying the parcel’s current future land use and surrounding medium‑density residential character do not support NRC (neighborhood retail commercial) zoning. Senior planner Sunday Odedoo told the commission the staff analysis found the request was not aligned with the future land use map and recommended the TLUP as a compromise to allow the property to operate commercially on a short‑term, conditional basis.
The applicant, represented at the meeting by a Johnson family member, said the building was constructed in 1975 and has functioned as commercial property for decades — hosting a gas station, restaurants and a hair salon — and that the family wants to restore its commercial use after zoning records made leasing difficult. Supporters from the neighborhood emphasized the Johnsons’ long tenure and patronage of local residents.
Opponents and community groups, including the Mableton Improvement Coalition and representatives of the SAE school across the street, supported staff’s recommendation for a TLUP rather than a rezoning. They cited the residential character of the surrounding blocks and raised safety and traffic concerns, noting a submitted traffic study that indicated high speeds on Mableton Parkway and urging restrictions on uses near a school.
During deliberations commissioners and staff clarified that a tax‑assessor class code (C4) can differ from formal zoning records and that the city’s records did not show a definitive zoning case history for the parcel. City staff said the TLUP was recommended because the city code does not provide a special land use pathway for the specific commercial uses the applicant requested.
The commission’s motion denied the rezoning request and approved a 2‑year TLUP subject to staff’s stipulations and additional conditions added by commissioners. Those stipulations prohibit gas stations, drive‑throughs and specified intensive automotive uses (vehicle repair/sales, emissions inspection stations, auto parts, new/used tire sales), require dumpster enclosures, require removal of the existing canopy within two years and the nonconforming billboard within six months if the permit is approved, and mandate a vegetative buffer and DOT review for any future ingress/egress changes. Commissioners also added a prohibition on tobacco and vape sales because the parcel sits near a school.
The commission recorded one nay (Commissioner Venice Walker); the motion otherwise carried and staff said the recommendation will be forwarded to the city council’s Jan. 28 agenda for final action.
The planning commission’s recommendation preserves short‑term commercial operation while limiting potentially intensive uses and creating conditions to address safety and neighborhood compatibility. The council will make the final determination on Jan. 28.
