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Residents urge council to reject or pause massive Bukhar rezoning during packed public comment period
Summary
Dozens of residents told the Chattahoochee Hills City Council they oppose rezoning roughly 7,800+ acres for a large Hamlet Mixed-Use project, citing traffic, rising property taxes for legacy landowners, and threats to the city's rural character; speakers asked for more studies and a public referendum.
Dozens of residents used the meeting’s public-comment portion to urge the Chattahoochee Hills City Council to halt or more carefully scrutinize a proposed rezoning and related DRI for the Bukhar/Boukhart property, which staff said would affect roughly 7,848.25 acres.
Ray Broadhead told the council he and his wife moved to Chattahoochee Hills for its rural character and asked, “What was the vision of its founders? Did it include data centers, shopping malls, 2 new schools, a golf course, and almost 17,000 homes?” Leona Broadhead and several other speakers cited DRI figures they said would add tens of thousands of new residents and argued that such a scale would rewrite the city’s rural identity. "I hope we can avoid that, grow the city in a sensible manner," Ray Broadhead said.
Speakers raised repeated concerns about traffic and tax impacts. Mitchell Wolf said application materials and studies were "sloppy, incomplete, and misleading," and asked the council to pursue a referendum before approving major changes. Scott Schafer warned that approving large-scale development would bring more traffic and higher city costs and questioned why the comprehensive plan had not been updated before entertaining the rezoning.
Other commenters spoke in favor of measured growth. Angela Addison urged the council to consider services that would allow residents to age in place and said it was possible to "keep it rural" while also providing local medical and grocery services. JC Sanders suggested the council preserve walkable, low-traffic neighborhoods next to where families live.
The council did not vote on the rezoning during the meeting — staff presented the item as a first read and noted it will return after Planning Commission hearings and additional studies. Director Morton told the council the applicant’s plan has multiple phases and that ARC and state river-protection rules (the Metropolitan River Protection Act) will govern development within 2,000 feet of the Chattahoochee River, and that further DRI work will be required for later phases.
