Planning commission approves OneLife Fitness master-plan amendment, variances for Northpointe site

The Alpharetta Planning Commission on July 9 approved a master-plan amendment, conditional use and variances to allow a two-story, 55,000-square-foot OneLife Fitness at the northeast corner of Haines Bridge Road and Rock Mill Road in the Northpointe overlay. The motion, made by a commissioner and seconded, passed without recorded roll-call details and will be considered by City Council on July 20.

Staff presenter Michael described the proposal as a request to amend the Delta Community Credit Union master plan to add an athletic facility as a conditional use and to approve variances for setbacks and parking. "The first item before you this evening is a request for master plan amendment conditional use and variance to allow for the construction of a 2 story 55,000 square foot building for OneLife Fitness," Michael said. He summarized staff’s recommendation to approve the request subject to 16 conditions tying the approval to the submitted site plan and addressing architecture, tree save, streetscape, open-space and traffic-study implementation.

The proposed building would sit on a roughly 6.25-acre wooded property and include about 15,000 square feet of outdoor amenity space containing four pickleball courts. Staff noted the site plan shows 276 parking spaces, about 56 more than the minimum required after an available 20% reduction. Michael also explained why staff supports variances that would allow one row of parking between the building and Rock Mill Road and larger building setbacks than the overlay typically permits.

George, the staff traffic reviewer, told the commission the consultant’s traffic report was received the day the staff packet was due and that some consultant recommendations reflected an incorrect assumption that an intersection was unsignalized. "The site access configurations that they recommend are very sound and we're agreeable to those recommendations which is effectively what you see in the proposed site plan," he said.

Applicant Neil Freeman, managing member of Pickle and Social Alpharetta LLC and property owner, told the commission the variances are driven by the parcel’s trapezoidal shape and access constraints. "We accept all the conditions set forth by the city staff," Freeman said and described the decision to pivot from a previously approved pickleball/restaurant concept to a fitness club.

Commissioners asked about tree-preservation language and how the outdoor amenity relates to the impervious-area calculations. After brief discussion and no public comment on the item, a commissioner moved to approve the master-plan amendment, conditional use and variance package; the chair called the vote and said the motion carries. The approval is subject to the 16 staff conditions presented and will be scheduled before City Council on July 20.