The city of Brookhaven denied a development proposal Tuesday that had drawn strong opposition from residents.
The planning commission met previously on the matter and recommended that the council deny the proposal to build a mixed-use development on the corner of Dresden and Appalachee drives.
The project by Terwilliger Papas would have included 121 apartments and townhomes as well as ground-floor commercial space for businesses.
The applicant no longer wanted to build the project, however. They were asking for permission to withdraw the proposal.
Video of a city council meeting Tuesday shows Greg Power with Terwilliger Papas asking the council to accept the withdrawal.
“We worked really hard on trying to design something that would meet the land use plan and gain the support of the neighborhood,” Power said. “We were unsuccessful, and we have no intentions of pursuing this project any further.”
Under city law, if a proposal to rezone an area is denied, the property cannot apply for another rezoning for two years.
Laurel David, an attorney with Galloway Law Group, spoke on behalf of the property owner.
“Simply, it’s not fair to punish the property owner because the applicant was not able to come to an agreement with the neighborhood,” she said. “There is no public purpose that’s being served by denying the request for withdrawal.”
Five residents spoke during public comment and presented photos, data from traffic studies and information about density in the area. An additional 62 people submitted their names as opponents to the project, and the crowd wore red shirts to demonstrate their disapproval.
After public comment, Councilman Bates Mattison made the motion to deny the proposal, which was passed unanimously.
“I think that the city at large really needs to have a discussion about what we want to see developed on Dresden Drive,” Mattison said. “As a community, we’ve got to be clear to our developers about what we want to see.”
The denial means there can be no rezoning requests for that property for two years. In six months, however, the city council can choose to shorten that timeframe if the property owner makes a request.
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