Though I do not officially sit on the Board of the Dunwoody Homeowners Association, I also don't miss many meetings. As an elected official I see it is an invaluable meeting for me to attend as it gives me pulse of where the community is on various subjects that may come in front of me at some time in the future. This Sunday is a good example as the rezoning and variance applications of both Chick-fil-A and Kroger will be discussed, debated, tweaked and maybe voted up or down by the private organization.
I saw the Community Council Public Notice in the Crier (the legal organ of the City of Dunwoody) regarding Chick-fil-A which told me that they had officially filed an application and then I was forwarded the DHA agenda for Sunday and saw it was up for discussion. In order to assure myself that the DHA and the general pubic was well informed prior hearing the presentations on Sunday, I requested from the Community Development Staff copies of the applications so that I could publish them here.
Chick-fil-A rezoning application materials.
ChickFilA RZ 10-121 Application.pdf
ChickFilA RZ 10-121 Existing Site Plan.pdf
ChickFilA RZ 10-121 Proposed Site Plan.pdf
Here is the Kroger special exception and variance application, due to be heard in front of the ZBA January 6, 2011 at 7 P.M.
Kroger SE 11-011 Application.pdf
Kroger ZBA 11-012 Application.pdf
Kroger ZBA 11-012 Cover Sheet Amendment.pdf
Kroger ZBA 11-012 Landscape Plan Amendment.pdf
Kroger ZBA 11-012 Site Plan Amendment.pdf
Kroger ZBA 11-012 Tree Protection and Replacement Plan Amendment.pdf
Kroger ZBA 11-012 Vicinity Plan Amendment.pdf
These are the files associated with Chick-fil-A’s variance request, due to be heard in front of the ZBA on February 3, 2011.
ChickFilA variance ZBA 11-022 Application.pdf
ChickFilA variance ZBA 11-022 Existing Plan.pdf
ChickFilA variance ZBA 11-022 Proposed Plan.pdf
4 comments:
I am so glad that Chick Fil A took the time to “revise” their site plan. I see that they have made great sacrifices in this new plan which alleviate all the reservations and objections I had to the ORIGINAL plan submitted a couple of months ago. Not really.
Before I start, I know that they are a great company, great corporate citizen, great waffle fries, ice tea and chicken sandwiches. I know that they are closed on Sundays because of the family’s strong and admirable religious beliefs. With that said, spare me the responses that tell me they should be allowed because they are Chick Fil A. In the realm of zoning the end user does not matter. You rezone for USE not end user.
I think we can all agree, we became a city primarily to gain control of our zoning. We want to do things BETTER than DeKalb. The operative word here is control. Control is the adoption of our own Comp Plan, the establishment of our own zoning code, and our own criteria for variances.
Control does not mean that we whimsically throw out all the legally established codes because we LIKE somebody. If there is a whiff of that, any decision made by any board becomes arbitrary and capricious and that is not something you want to have as part of the record as you begin to face other rezoning and redevelopment projects. Lawyers love to sue (and win) when any local government does that.
Control also does not mean that you rezone by public opinion or by taking polls which is why in most jurisdictions, loud demonstrations and applause or not permitted at public hearings, as courts have decided that they can sway the votes of councilman so that their decisions are based on the emotion of the moment rather than the codes that they have been sworn to uphold. (That pesky arbitrary and capricious thing again) I think this is why Fran calls me a zoning purist.
As most of you know I could go on and on listing all the reasons this application is a bad one. (Bill Robinson reminds me of that all the time, only he says, I go on and on and on and on…., you get my point) With that being acknowledged I will end with a few bullet points and will be happy to discuss them anytime you see me at the Hickory House.
• The plan does not meet the criteria set out in the newly adopted Comprehensive Land Use Plan and before all of you tell me that the Comp plan does not prohibit it, you really have no idea of what a comp plan is.
• The developer claims he is entitled to parking and set back variances because of the shape of the lot. Well not really, they are choosing to build a project that is too big for this lot to accommodate. If they knew the lot was too small they should not have purchased it.
• The plan does not come anywhere close to providing the minimum parking required for a building of this size. By law they cannot “share” parking with the shopping center because the two parcels will not be in the same Zoning category (19 spaces for 134 seats). It is called CROSS DISTRICT PARKING and it is not allowed. If it were you would have a 180,000 square foot shopping center across from the Library and not the townhomes and single family homes that are on the parkway.
• They also seek a variance to reduce parking, but again it is because they want it, not because it is legally justified. Parking variances of that size are hardly ever granted and when they are it is because the development is adjacent to a MARTA station.
• They are seeking to move the building forward and reduce the “front set back” from 75 feet to 13 feet. In most cases a variance of that magnitude is granted to allow the developer to build a streetscape, pedestrian friendly building. Here they are seeking more space so that they can build a drive thru.
• Supporters suggest that this will revitalize the shopping center. Really? I have been involved in zoning for almost thirty years and cannot think of a single location in the Atlanta area where a fast food joint in essence becomes the key tenant or anchor to a strip Center. It just does not work that way. Do you really think you are going to rent a 30,000 square foot space because you have a Chick Fil A there?
The actions that the city takes on this project will set the tone for all rezoning in the future. Do we do what we said we were going to do and control our zoning or do we throw it all out because we like waffle fries?
Got to end here, Bill Robinson is telling me to sit down.
PS. if you live near this site and you are against the development, I have a list of lawyers for you.
Bob
Control also does not mean that you rezone by public opinion or by taking polls
But yet, the Goodwill Store and Donation center discussed for the Ace Hardware site (which still sits empty, btw) was discarded due to public opinion.
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