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Johns Creek BZA approves variance for McGinnis Ferry site with buffer planted to 'buffer' standard
Summary
The Johns Creek Board of Zoning Appeals approved a variance allowing a 40,000 sq ft shopping center plan at 7895 McGinnis Ferry Road to reduce the required 40-foot landscape strip to 20 feet, with conditions including an 11,000 sq ft community gathering space and planting to buffer standards along the Brookmere boundary.
The Board of Zoning Appeals voted to approve variance V-260001 for a vacant parcel at 7895 McGinnis Ferry Road, permitting a reduction of the city's 40-foot landscape strip to 20 feet to allow construction of a proposed ~40,000-square-foot shopping center. Staff recommended approval but required conditions tied to site plan compliance and landscape measures; the board added an amendment requiring planted areas adjacent to the Brookmere subdivision meet the city's buffer planting standard.
Tyler Baron, Planner III with the City of Johns Creek, told the board the elongated parcel has constrained depth—about 178 feet for most of the frontage and roughly 800 feet along McGinnis Ferry Road—so the strict 40-foot strip would prevent a viable commercial layout. "Relief, if granted, would be in harmony with or could be made in harmony with the general purpose and intent of the zoning ordinance," Baron said during the staff presentation and recommended approval with specific planting and community-space conditions. Staff's recommendation included providing a minimum 11,000 square feet of community gathering space and replanting in the reduced landscape strips as shown on the January 26 site plan.
Neighbors asked the board to tighten standards and flagged operational concerns. "The McGinnis Ferry Road is already busy, and with near nearby future development like Medley, the traffic is expecting to increase," Brookmere resident Kevin John told the board, adding worries about loading/dumpster locations and noise. David Cook, who lives in a nearby townhome, urged that the detention area be built underground and asked that the dumpster enclosure include a roof so upper-floor residents do not look down on dumpsters.
Developer representative Matthew Lee said the team will use an underground detention system and pledged attention to landscaping and aesthetics, but said some planting specifics cannot be guaranteed this early in design. "We have decided ... to provide that extra green space of, roughly 11,000 square feet," Lee said, describing the community-space offer as a sign of good faith. The board amended staff recommendation 3(c) so the 10-foot planting along the south and east property lines adjacent to Brookmere must be planted to buffer standards and then approved the variance by voice vote.
The approval carries conditions tied to the January 26 site plan, requirements to provide the community gathering space described in the submitted exhibit, and to replant specified landscape strips at the dimensions outlined in staff's exhibit. The board also noted staff or public-works follow-up on traffic and encouraged developer outreach to the HOA and coordination on plant species during permitting.
