DUNWOODY, Ga. — The Dunwoody City Council voted unanimously Sept. 8 to deny an amended rezoning request for age-restricted, affordable housing at Ashford Dunwoody Road and Ashford Center Parkway.
Following a months-long drum beat of community opposition, the property owner at 4891 Ashford Dunwoody Road will must submit a waiver to rezone the property again in six months or wait another two years.
The 3.42-acre site currently owned by LifeSouth Community Blood Center is just a couple of blocks north of City Hall and across the street from Dunwoody Baptist Church properties.
LifeSouth representatives have indicated they are in favor of the project as they look to sell and relocate.
Amid a nationwide housing crisis, lack of new construction and significant inflation since the pandemic, a proposed rezoning for affordable senior living was shot down in one of the most progressive cities in north Metro Atlanta.
The unanimous denial came after most comments from Dunwoody residents made it clear that they did not want the project to move forward at the site.
It was the latest iteration of the land use battles and zoning fights that led the city to incorporate nearly 17 years ago.
Cheryl Strickland, a homeowner in the Ashford Chase since 1996, said she is “absolutely not anti-affordable housing,” but sees issues with the proposed rezoning as a longtime homeowner with experience in commercial development.
Strickland’s 40-year career includes financing commercial real estate, economic redevelopment projects, and most recently, affordable senior housing projects.
“My concerns regarding the Dominium project department specifically are not what, but rather where and how … It probably should be closer to the concentration of amenities in Edge City,” Strickland said, referencing the Central Perimeter business district. “We only have a limited number of redevelopment opportunities in Dunwoody. I believe we can do better. I believe we should wait until the right opportunities show up.”
Adjustments to project
Dominium Apartments’ request to rezone from office-institution (O-I) to planned development (PD) at 4891 Ashford Dunwoody Road has seen a few iterations, the latest reducing the mid-rise development’s height and unit density.
Still, it would be the city’s most dense multifamily development to date at more than 48 units an acre. The Jefferson Apartments and the Ashford Condos, two neighboring multifamily developments, do not exceed 20 units per acre.
The city is evenly split between rental units and owner-occupied homes.
After the community’s consensus in opposition to the proposal in August, the applicant made revisions before a vote on whether to accept or deny the unique rezoning proposal.
A look at Dominium Apartment’s proposed elevations for its affordable, age-restricted mid-rise at 4891Ashford Dunwoody Road shows the height reduction following the Aug. 11 public hearing. The Dunwoody City Council voted unanimously to deny the proposed project amid a drum beat of community opposition.
Dominium Vice President Shaun Reinhardt said his team heard concerns from elected officials and the community about the building’s proposed heigh of 95 feet during the first public hearing Aug. 11.
“Though the application [and footprint] is very much the same, we reduced the building height from 95 feet down to 67 feet along Ashford Parkway and 56 feet along Ashford Dunwoody Road,” Reinhardt said, including the decrease in units from 215 to 165 “I think these changes really matter. It fits the scale of surrounding uses.”
Surrounding residents and homeowners disagree.
After city staff and the Planning Commission recommended approval of the rezoning this summer, an organized group of residents and former elected officials rallied public opposition.
Researching zoning history
The citizen-led group submitted three Open Records requests, uncovering Dominium’s original request in March to rezone the property to a Perimeter Center district (PC-3) with 11 request exemptions from the zoning requirements and special land use permit to allow age-restricted housing.
A month later, Dominium applied to rezone it to a PD district, removing the need for exemptions from PC-3 district regulations and any special land use permits.
Instead, a PD rezoning only requires the applicant’s adherence to an Overall Development Plan, allowing PC-3 district regulations to be bypassed.
With a significant amount of community attention on the rezoning, there was little discussion among elected officials about the proposal itself during the public hearing.
A couple dozen residents in attendance held up “DENY” signs during the public hearing, reinforcing community pressure on elected officials.
After Senior Planner Madalyn Smith briefly described the reductions in density and building height, City Councilman Tom Lambert motioned to deny, which was quickly seconded by City Councilman Rob Price.
Both incumbents are facing challengers on the Nov. 4 ballot who criticized city officials for their handling of the proposal at the Aug. 11 meeting.
Shortly after, Councilwoman Stacey Harris asked why staff was not recommending the application go back to the Planning Commission for review.
Earlier in the meeting, elected officials voted unanimously to send a special land use permit for a Zaxby’s drive-thru at 125 Perimeter Center West because of a change to building design and aesthetics.
Mayor Lynn Deutsch then called a vote on the motion to deny, which passed unanimously.
Other residential discussions
During the Sept. 8 public hearing, the Dunwoody City Council voted on additional land use items, including a rezoning along Ashford Dunwoody Road south of City Hall and an office-to-residential conversion just off I-285.
Limestone Wells LLC requested to rezone its property at 4570 Ashford Dunwoody Road from office-institution (O-I) to Perimeter Center (PC-1). The 1.56-acre site currently has a shuttered drive-thru bank with people seen living on site.
While some residents are excited about the fast-food chain’s first Dunwoody location, other residents and a nearby hotel operator are concerned about the drive-thru’s impact.
Because the existing property owner wants the rezoning to help attract a tenant, a special land use permit for a drive-thru facility was separated from the rezoning.
Elected officials approved the rezoning 6-1 with Mayor Lynn Deutsch voting against it.
Deutsch said the city only has one opportunity to get the land use it desires along Ashford Dunwoody Road, and she does not want it to look like Roswell Road in Sandy Springs.
“I’m not going to vote for a drive through on this site … for many reasons, including the fact that I think Ashford Dunwoody is destined for greater things,” Deutsch said. “I do not think that we do ourselves a service by approving something with a drive through in a location.”
One resident and active community member, Ali Mahbod, spoke in favor of the Raising Cane’s drive-thru during public comment to open the meeting, citing concern about the city’s reputation in the business community. The Dunwoody Homeowners Association has also backed the proposal.
Support for conversion
Many of the residents in opposition to the Dominium project are in favor of an office-to-residential conversion at 64 and 66 Perimeter Center East, which is set to add an age-restricted multifamily building with owner-occupied townhomes and condominiums.
The City Council approved Workspace Property Trust’s request to rezone the property to a Planned Development (PD) district with a unanimous vote.
The citizen-led group repeatedly asked for an explanation of why the proposal abutting I-285 has a density of around 27 units per acre, while Dominium is proposing almost double that in a location more than a mile north, which is dominated by three story buildings.
On the “Dunwoody: Uncensored” Facebook group, a spinoff of the Area Community Forum page, former City Councilman Terry Nall and resident Macks Leighman discussed the decision.
“As a community, we now must question how and why an in-house community of key dept (sic) heads and [the] city manager unanimously approved it back in April before it went to Planning Commission in June,” Nall wrote. “How can everyone in key city staff roles be so opposite, so far off the mark from what our community wants?”
Leighman, in another post, wrote positively about the community’s grassroots effort and the responsiveness of the City Council, as compared to DeKalb County.
“Dunwoody is founded on the premise that owner occupied, multi-family housing is preferred over rental housing,” Leighman wrote. “Any developer that proposes owner-occupied housing may continue to have broad community support.”
