The Dunwoody City Council voted Feb. 22 to approve a rezoning ordinance for property near Dunwoody Village to make room for a townhome development.
The Monday vote, on second reading, rezones 8.38 acres of property on the eastern side of Dunwoody Village Parkway, just north of its intersection with Mount Vernon Road, from business to residential so a developer can build 14 multi-unit buildings for a 79-unit townhome development.
While no specific cost for the project was filed with the city, developer Woody Snell, president of Lynwood Development, estimated the units would sell for perhaps $650,000 each. Seventeen such units brings the total to approximately $51.4 million.
The ordinance to rezone was approved 6 to 1 with Councilwoman Lynn Deutsch casting the lone no vote.
“I’m struggling mightily with your project because we don’t have renderings of what is going to be there,” she said. Deutsch explained another development approved by council and located in her district is nothing like what they believed it would be, adding she felt “burned” by that developer.
As part of the rezoning, the council agreed to mandate 10 percent of the units have master bedrooms on the main floor, also known as “master on main.” This number shrunk significantly from the 20 percent mandate debated at length at the last council meeting.
Councilman Terry Nall amended the ordinance to have no master on main requirements, but his amendment failed with Mayor Denis Shortal and Councilmembers Pam Tallmadge, Jim Riticher, Lynn Deutsch and John Heneghan voting against the amendment.
Nall then revised the amendment to require the 10 percent master on main units, which was passed unanimously.
Another point of conflict from the last council meeting was the variance the developer was seeking to leave the sidewalks at 6-feet rather add on 6 more feet of sidewalk to create a 12-foot sidewalk. The 12-foot sidewalk is part of the Dunwoody Master plan, argued city planners, and shouldn’t be tampered with.
The city planners agreed to compromise at Monday’s meeting by allowing an 8-foot sidewalk; however the developer held steadfast to keeping the sidewalk at 6-feet.
In a 4-3 vote, the council agreed to grant the variance and keep the sidewalks at 6 feet.
Voting in favor of 6-feet sidewalks were Shortal, Nall, Tallmadge and Riticher; voting against were Councilman Doug Thompson, Deutsch and Heneghan.
“I expect you to hold [your promise] to the city,” Shortal told Marian Adeimy, the attorney representing Lynwood Development.
I cannot remember a time when I have been so disgusted with the actions of our city council members. John Heneghan thinks he is a real estate agent who can dictate what models a development should have. Lynn Deutsch made a bad decision with John Weiland and wants to punish every other developer dumb enough to cross her path. Denis Shortal scolded the developer as if she were a petulant child, after she bent over backwards to work with the neighboring community.
You jackasses may be in office for another four years but that doesn’t mean we have to deal with you personally. Enjoy your time. I look forward to shunning you and your self-righteous egotistical selves at every opportunity.
Well, I guess we now know who “Naughty Moose” is.
If the City and staff do not learn how to handle a standard development and zoning request, we will miss out on community-changing opportunities in the future. Do not scare away developers by limiting development to benefit the few naysayers who will not be here in 20 years. If the Mayor and Council do not plan for the future, Dunwoody will remain a “gas station on the way to Perimeter.”
Leadership requires listening to experts in the development community, and cutting down on overreaching and ill-advised staff involvement. There must be flexibility if we are truly interested in revitalizing Dunwoody Village. The City should not attempt to play “developer” unless it is willing to put its money where its mouth is.
Help me to better understand why the developer is
in the drivers seat?
Not too long ago a counsel meetings another developer also did not want to abide by the charter and the request of the people. “We want as seniors
to have living on the main ” He pulled out of the
development project.
A 10% on the main approval is in my opinion not what the citizens are asking for.
So why has this project been approved ? What is different ? And 1-14 homes out of 79 is a crazy
number.
The inmates are running the …….
Is the City Council of Dunwoody running us
Seniors away from staying here in Dunwoody ?