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Chattahoochee Hills council defers vote after hours of public comment on 526-acre Merrill Village rezoning
Summary
The council heard hours of public testimony Sept. 5 on a proposal to rezone 526 acres at Cochran Mill Road and South Fulton Parkway from Rural to Village and to reduce required buffers. Residents warned the plan would erode the city's rural character; the council voted to defer the rezoning and related items to October.
The Chattahoochee Hills City Council on Sept. 5 heard extensive public comment and a developer presentation before voting to defer consideration of a proposal to rezone 526 acres at Cochran Mill Road and South Fulton Parkway from RL (Rural) to VL (Village). The applicant is also seeking variances to reduce or eliminate required buffers along Cochran Mill Road and South Fulton Parkway.
The proposal presented by consultant Ryan Snodgrass for the Merrill family envisions a village center with roughly 2,000 housing units across seven parcels and a framework intended to allow later phase-by-phase design review. "We are not trying to sell a fake image. This is the framework plan that is being submitted," Snodgrass told the council, saying the site lies in the comprehensive plan's preferred Village area and that reduced buffers are needed to create a walkable Main Street-style corridor.
Residents who spoke at the public hearing pushed back, arguing the scale, density and requested buffer reductions would damage the city's rural character and affect nearby Cochran Mill Park. "If you are going to build all this, let us make it still look rural with the buffers in place to hide everything," said resident Calvin Ray, summarizing a recurring theme among opponents. Several speakers described the project as apartment-style density rather than single-family homes, warned of increased traffic and service demands, and criticized changes to the Unified Development Code that have reduced minimum sizes and separation between villages and hamlets.
Supporters including the South Fulton Parkway Alliance urged balanced, quality development along the corridor to prevent heavy industrial uses and to secure commercial amenities that strengthen the parkway. Nick Byers, representing the alliance, said he had worked with the developer in other jurisdictions and urged the council to balance protections with opportunities for thoughtful development.
City staff noted the project has undergone a DRI (Development of Regional Impact) review and that staff recommended deferral. During council deliberations Councilmember Schmidt initially moved to deny the rezoning but withdrew that motion after legal counsel; Councilmember Peek then moved and Councilmember Lowe seconded a motion to defer Items 23-044 (rezoning), 24-046 (buffer variance) and 24-052 (development agreement) to the October meeting, with a public hearing scheduled for Item 24-046 only. The motion passed unanimously.
The council's deferral leaves open multiple next steps: applicants may refine plans, produce more detailed phase-specific design materials, or negotiate additional conditions; the council will revisit the rezoning and buffer variance in October. The hearing record includes more than two dozen speakers and several written submissions for the record.
The council meeting packet and staff reports contain details on buffer widths proposed for reduction and on required transfers of development rights (TDRs) the applicant says would fund preservation of rural land; those documents are available on the city's website for those seeking the technical specifics discussed at the hearing.
