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Chattahoochee Hills council unanimously denies 526‑acre "Merrill Village" rezoning
Summary
After months of public comment and council review, the Chattahoochee Hills City Council voted unanimously Oct. 1 to deny a rezoning request that would have converted 526 acres at South Fulton Parkway and Cochrane Mill Road from rural to village, citing traffic, infrastructure and rural‑character concerns.
The Chattahoochee Hills City Council on Oct. 1 voted unanimously to deny rezoning application 23‑044, a proposal to rezone 526 acres at the South Fulton Parkway/Cochrane Mill Road intersection from Rural (RL) to Village.
Staff told the council the proposal contemplated about 2,000 residential units and would require roughly 1,475 transfer‑of‑development‑rights (TDR) purchases; staff estimated that transfer at "roughly $30,000,000" to move development rights into the village and preserve rural land elsewhere. Council members and residents raised repeated concerns about traffic impacts, infrastructure capacity and the loss of the city's rural character. One councilor summarized the concern by saying, "This loose assemblage of properties has never conformed to any definition of a village," and urged caution on approving such a large transformation.
Council members discussed the DRI process and who would fund road improvements triggered by a large development; the mayor noted that DRI‑required improvements define which parties pay for mitigation but do not compel the city to implement them if it chooses otherwise. After debate, the motion on the floor was to deny the rezoning; the council voted in favor of denial on the record, ending consideration of the applicant's request that night.
What happens next: the related development agreement item (24‑052) was withdrawn by the council after the denial. The council indicated this decision does not preclude future, smaller proposals but reflects a determination that the proposed scale and configuration in 23‑044 were not acceptable in its current form.
