AJC > NorthSide > Blog > Archives > 2006 > November > 13 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USShould Sandy Springs trade single-family homes for townhomes?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Last week, the City Council and Mayor voted 4-3 to defer a re-zoning application along Roberts Drive –just south of the Chattahoochee River.
An Atlanta-based developer had plans to tear down three single-family homes and build 26 townhomes in their place.
Although the proposal is on track with the city’s comprehensive plan, which calls for 8 to 12 units per acre in that area, residents say the new upscale addition would still be out of place in their neighborhood of single-family homes.
Residents, who sent hundreds of e-mails and showed up en masse at Wednesday’s meeting, say they voted for the creation of a City of Sandy Springs to protect their neighborhoods from plans like this one.
The Council will re-hear the case in March but in the meantime, what do you think they should do—keep the single-family homes or approve the townhomes?
Read the proposal on the city’s Website
Permalink | Comments (4) | Post your comment | Categories: Sandy Springs
Comments
By Monday
November 13, 2006 09:49 AM | Link to this
Sure, let’s kick some long time residents out of their life long homes, so a developer can put up townhomes, condos, etc. and MAJOR TRAFFIC. I say to heck with all these daggum developers. They are RUINING this city. Aren’t there enough traffic woes already?
The development in this town is getting way out of hand. The greedy developers come in, do what they want with the land, then run and don’t contribute anything to the roads, schools, etc. It’s just causing more traffic nightmares.
By Shaye Breed
November 13, 2006 10:55 AM | Link to this
If it’s more ‘upscale’ than what’s there, go for it… the area needs a little lift. I guess it was only part of the plan until those residents realized it meant THEIR neighborhood.
By Concerned Resident
November 13, 2006 08:20 PM | Link to this
A contentious rezoning application reached what SHOULD have been a final showdown on Wednesday November 8th, at Sandy Springs City Hall.
This application represents the nibbling away of another large green space in our community. Reference #RZ06-044, CV06-209 - Roberts Dr. near Roswell Rd. (Hwy. 9) on the northern fringe of the city, not in the heart of Sandy Springs where higher density housing would be expected and appropriate.
This particular area is a large single-family home neighborhood, which does not have the unified voice of a subdivision, and it is still threatened by rezoning to a higher density use.
The battle has been a pitched one so far where the not only are the individual residents battling the developer but the city itself seems divided on which way to turn. The Zoning Board approved the plan, with conditions, while the Planning Board turned it down unanimously. When it came down to the Mayor and City Council they dodged the bullet by postponing a decision for 120 days.
Many questions have raised some eyebrows about the way this rezoning has been handled by the city and by the developer. To start with, the legally required notice that was sent to the adjacent homeowners (ONLY those within 300’) did not list the correct addresses for parcels of land that were to be rezoned. Then the addresses listed in the notice were way out of the range of the addresses actually in question.
The rezoning sign that is required on the site itself exists on only one house yet 3 houses will be torn down plus an additional undeveloped parcel will be impacted if the project goes through. Why don’t all three houses and the empty parcel each have signs posted so that those driving by can quickly grasp the picture? The Planning and Zoning Boards need to be more open with the residents and reach beyond the minimum legal requirements to keep the citizens informed!
Is the City’s interdepartmental communication and cooperation any better than what Fulton County offered the residents? The city came into being on the promise of being better. Yet the rezoning petition uses a future land use plan developed by the old County government. Meanwhile, a City study committee exists to suggest improvements to this flawed plan but it won’t be finished until next year. Already the committee has noted that the old proposed County plan is inappropriate for this subject property.
Should the city act without first developing a plan that makes sense for Sandy Springs? I think most residents would say NO!
Study, communicate fully with area residents, plan, get the needed infrastrustures in place, and then develop higher density residences if you must. But don’t destroy our single family neighborhoods doing it.
Members and elected officials of the SS government take heed.
By Little Red Riding Hood
November 16, 2006 09:30 AM | Link to this
I remember this old fairy tail. The wolf dressed in sheep’s clothes comes to the City’s door conjuring images of a solutions oriented development, increased tax base, blight removal. How he will huff and puff and blow 3 houses down with promises to replace them with 26, yes, 26 beautiful $500,000 townhouses.
The true story here is one of an opportunistic land speculator enriching himself and his firm to the detriment of the neighborhood and community. When the eye wash fades and reality hits, City services are strained by more people crowded into a dense area, the blight one street over remains and the $500,000 townhouses start in the $300,000 range.
Wolfy is in the Bahamas working on his tan and perusing pictures of his new scheme, the Brooklyn Bridge………… Sale pending as the new connection between Roswell and Sandy Springs.