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Owner seeks variances for gas station at 5039 Buford Highway; council asks for more traffic and design details
Summary
Applicant proposes fuel dispensers, canopy and convenience store at 5039 Buford Highway; staff supports use‑based variances but recommends denying several streetscape waivers; council requested building elevations, traffic and sidewalk analysis before voting.
City planning staff reviewed PZ20251324, a redevelopment application for 5039 Buford Highway that would add a freestanding canopy, fuel dispensers and a convenience store on an existing commercial parcel. Matt Adams, director of planning and development, told the council that the application seeks five variances and ten waivers — including an increase in impervious surface from the allowable 80% to 88.92%, an enclosed dumpster located five feet from Chamblee‑Dunwoody Road, reduced sidewalk clear zones and changes to the supplemental landscape zone. Staff recommended approval of use‑based requests tied to motor‑vehicle operations (variances 3–5 and waivers 4–5) but opposed several streetscape waivers that staff characterized as preferences rather than site hardship.
Property owner Rajni Khandidi and team member Alim Chagani addressed the council in support, saying the owner has run a nearby station for 20 years and plans aesthetic and functional improvements. Khandidi asked for council support: "I just bought this property, like, 2 years before, and, we had started working... please help me out." Council members raised safety and multimodal concerns — including narrow sidewalks and complex traffic near the Chamblee‑Dunwoody/Buford/ Shallowford intersection — and asked the applicant to provide building elevations, consolidated project renderings and further traffic/safety analysis before the council votes on Tuesday.
