Council denies rezoning and variance for 1425 Mayfield Road after neighbors raise tree and stormwater concerns

The Alpharetta City Council voted 5–1 to deny a rezoning and variance request for 1425 Mayfield Road, rejecting a proposal to subdivide roughly 4.6 acres into five single-family lots.

Planning staff presented the applicant’s proposal to rezone the property from AG to R-22 and to reduce the local street right-of-way from 50 feet to 44 feet. Staff recommended approval only if the council required a minimum 30,000-square-foot lot size, which would have reduced the subdivision to four lots. Staff also outlined 18 recommended conditions and tree-preservation recommendations.

The applicant’s representative, Din Webb, said the proposal had been revised from nine lots to six to five after neighborhood feedback and that the team had produced a citizen participation report and secured 23 letters of support. Webb said the project sits adjacent to several R-15 and R-22 developments and that design changes had been made to shift development to the east and increase buffers.

Neighbors who live adjacent to the site urged denial. Gibbs Frazier, who said he lives at 3055 Bethany Court, warned that canopy loss would make his backyard less habitable and asked the council to prioritize the “spirit of the law” on tree preservation. ‘‘That directly affects our backyard . . . the canopy,’’ Frazier said, arguing that non-specimen trees provide material community value.

Bill Lawler, a Crabapple Trace resident, urged the council to deny the rezoning and questioned stormwater impacts, noting that he believed a hydrological constraint had limited construction on his property in the past and asking why similar constraints would be allowed for the applicant’s proposal.

Council members asked staff and the applicant detailed questions about which trees could be saved on Lot 1, how a 30,000-square-foot minimum would alter the site plan and whether additional buffering committed by the applicant would remain under a larger-lot scenario. Staff confirmed perimeter buffers and the applicant’s neighborhood commitments would be retained on a four-lot layout.

After public comment and a brief applicant rebuttal restating conformance with the city’s tree ordinance and the applicant’s commitments to neighbors, councilmembers considered motions. An initial motion to approve failed for lack of a second; a subsequent motion to deny passed 5–1, formally rejecting Z-26-04/V-26-06 for 1425 Mayfield Road.

What’s next: The denial leaves the applicant options to revise and resubmit or pursue other entitlements. The council recorded the final vote and moved on to the next agenda item.