Kroger proposes grocery, fuel center and pharmacy drive‑through at former Walmart site; neighbors press for delivery‑hour limits

Kroger representatives and city planning staff on July 13 presented a combined rezoning and special‑use permit request to repurpose the long‑vacant Walmart building at 4725 Ashford‑Dunwoody Road into a Kroger supermarket with a second tenant, a pharmacy drive‑through and a fuel canopy. Planning staff recommended approval subject to a site plan, elevations, a trail easement for the North Nancy Creek Greenway and a security camera plan.

Why it matters: The project would re‑activate a high‑visibility commercial parcel and add grocery capacity to the perimeter area, while also changing delivery windows, pedestrian circulation and signage that affect adjacent neighborhoods.

Laurel David, attorney for the applicant, described site changes including a new pedestrian connection from Meadow Lane, parking lot improvements, a smaller tenant suite and a planned fuel kiosk. “We accept staff’s conditions,” she said, and noted Kroger has revised the drive‑through layout and provided a camera plan and temporary construction‑easement language to staff.

Neighbors at the public hearing pressed the council on delivery hours and late‑night truck noise. “I oppose extending deliveries to 11 p.m.,” said David Mann (Ashford Chase), who lives behind the shopping center, citing loud backing beeps and earlier limits negotiated when Walmart operated a store. Yolanda Castles, also of Ashford Chase, said the neighborhood fought to reduce Walmart’s night deliveries and urged the council not to return to an overnight schedule.

Kroger’s senior construction manager, Taylor Jenkins, said the proposed 6 a.m.–11 p.m. window was a compromise to align truck arrivals with the company’s stocking and to reduce daytime truck traffic on busy roads. “By balancing it, it allows us to match those hours. It also allows [deliveries] to be a lot more enforceable,” Jenkins said, and offered to put non‑overnight dumpster and maintenance schedules in writing.

Council members asked staff and the applicant to tighten mitigations. Several members recommended added sound‑abatement measures, clearer limits on dumpster pickups and written conditions ensuring delivery hours apply to the entire parcel and future tenants. Staff confirmed that the rezoning and any modified delivery conditions would apply to the full 4725 parcel, including the adjacent suite.

Signage drew separate scrutiny. Planning staff supported most elements of Kroger’s major master sign plan but recommended denying one proposed monument sign on Meadow Lane (Sign M), warning additional monument signage could create clutter. The applicant said the smaller monument sign (24 sq ft, 4 feet tall) would be necessary to display fuel pricing and improve visibility from the approach.

Next steps: This was a first reading with public hearings opened for both the rezoning/special land use permit and the master sign plan. The council did not vote on zoning tonight; staff and the applicant will return for a second reading and final action at a later meeting after finalizing easement and condition language.

Community context: Planning staff noted the project offers a dedicated floating easement to advance the North Nancy Creek Greenway connection, and will change onsite pedestrian circulation to better link Meadow Lane with the store entrance.

Authorities and material details: Planning staff cited zoning case RZ‑26‑01 for parcel 1835001167 and referenced concurrent variances to chapter 27 (site design and perimeter center overlay requirements) related to drive‑through and fuel‑center configuration. Delivery hours proposed in the application were 6 a.m.–11 p.m. Monday–Friday and 7 a.m.–11 p.m. weekends; staff said the planning commission negotiated those hours into recommended conditions.

What remains unresolved: Neighbors asked for an acoustic study and clearer written restrictions for dumpster/maintenance and late‑night operations; Kroger agreed to pursue narrower hours in follow‑up conversations with staff and to return with refined conditions.