Board of Commissioners - Regular Meeting

This Saturday at 10AM at the First African Baptist Church in Global Refuge on Memorial Drive and the New Life Church Center in South DeKalb. These donations will ensure that we reach areas that have the highest need based upon our demographics. We're also exploring opportunities to support DeKalb residents facing food insecurities by providing year round access to nutritious food. We want to be clear. We understand for many individuals food insecurity isn't a one day event.

It is unfortunately a way of life. So by supporting local food pantries alongside community organizations and leaders, in weeks ahead you'll hear more about those efforts because we are in the business of creating long term sustainability for our community. We're proud to work very closely with Pete Walker and the DeKalb Housing Authority as we monitor changes surrounding HUD housing vouchers. We understand that housing stability is essential for family well-being, and we remain committed to supporting residents who are affected by federal shifts. Before I close, I'd like to invite Alan Mitchell, our Director of Community Development, to share an update on how we are tackling housing insecurity through home, AARP, which is our American Rescue Plan program.

So mister Mitchell, at this time.

Thank you, madam CEO. I'm glad to be here. As the CEO mentioned, DeKalb County launched a $7,800,000 home ARP program, to address, instabilities across the community. This program is funded by HUD, a partner that provides a lot of funding to the county. This initiative expands access to safe, stable housing and supportive services to individuals and families who are homeless or at risk for homeless.

That's very important. The Home ERP program, deals with individuals and families experiencing homelessness, people at risk for homelessness, that could be individuals that have delinquent rent, utilities that will be affected if not paid. In addition, survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, human trafficking, and other vulnerable populations facing housing instability. Through this program, eligible residents can receive tenant based rental assistance. It's called Tebra in in the HUD world, tenant based rental assistance, to help them access and maintain affordable housing along with supportive services such as case management, employment assistance, behavior health, referrals, child care, coordination, and transportation.

To apply, I encourage individuals, to recognize that they must live in DeKalb County, and complete a screening process by calling the CAB's coordinated entry hotline, which is (404) 687-3500 between the hours of nine and 05:00. We have roughly eight to 10 individuals, ready to answer phones to engage with our population. I might also add that there is a backlog of being able to get through. So I encourage people to be patient when you call because of the significant volume we have with individuals in the county that are encountering hardships to be able to get through on the line. Together, we're building a stronger and more stable and more compassionate DeKalb County where every resident has access to housing and resources they need to thrive.

I'll be remiss if I didn't mention a most recent program we've had called ICCI, Integrated Community Care Initiative. It was announced in December and through July, the county with through our department, community development, expended $13,000,000 using ICCI, which covered back rent, back utilities, homeless assistance, and helping with other instability issues with regard to families. Of the 13,000,000, 10,200,000.0 of that was appropriated to back rent and utilities. So there are a number of programs that the county has in place. We're very serious about ensuring our citizens are stable, and we appropriate funds where need be to help them with their instability.

So with those comments, I thank you for allowing me to speak and I'll turn it back over to Madam CEO.

And at this time, I will turn over the podium to our chief communications officer, Deanna, so that she can field all questions and we'll be more than happy to answer them.

Thank you, madam CEO. Thank you, director Mitchell. So at this time, we will open for questions. These questions specifically from the press. I ask that before you ask your question, if you can state your name and the outlet before, again, proceeding with your question. Also, please keep all questions limited to the topics we discussed today. As we mentioned, we do have some of our partners here with us. So if you have specific questions about housing or about how we are partnering with the schools, etcetera, feel free to ask those questions as well. So I'll pause now to see if we have any questions from the press. Yes, Zoe.

We will take this jointly Zoe. Back in 2019 when we began to really hone in on food deserts and food insecurities, Back then, we partnered with the Cooperative Extension and we had a program called Fresh On Deck. It is my understanding last year while I was transitioning, Fresh On Deck was unable to meet the needs of the community. So from here, I'll now turn the page and allow commissioner Terry to tell you about our new mobile efforts.

Yes. Thank you, madam CEO. And madam CEO is exactly right. We had some logistical issues this year bringing back online the Fresh On Deck program, which was part of the public health department and the Cooperative Extension running that program. And thankfully, because of the CEO working to kind of revive that program towards the end of the year, we're able to bring in Rotaza.

And so they are covering mobile food markets, three stops on Monday, three stops on Fridays across the county between now and the end of the year. And then tomorrow, we'll be voting on agenda item to add in additional subsidies for minimum $10 credits for every customer. So the first $10 basically is paid for. And then hopefully, we'll be getting some more turkeys as well that we'll announce tomorrow to add into that overall food distribution effort.

So is

it like kind of like a Oh, sorry.

Oh, we have a mic.

I guess is that just kind of like a van or truck or something that comes that has like the fresh food available and people can just come and get what they need?

Absolutely. And all of the food is sourced from local growers because of course we're very excited to support our local growers. And we focus on communities where there are food deserts and a lack of easy access to fresh fruits and vegetables.

Nice. Thanks guys. You're welcome. And then I had one question for the school district and just as we're thinking about food insecurity and supporting our residents, what are you guys doing to help students and families during this maybe uncertain time?

It's a great question. Thank you for that question. Again, my name is Norman Sauce, very proudly serving DeKalb County School District as interim superintendent. Some may know that we have safe centers that we've established at a number of our high schools. For example, Stevenson High School, McNair High School, Cross Keys High School, Doctor Martin Luther King Junior High School, Reed Ann High School among others. Stone Mountain High School as well. And, our safe centers work in close partnership with Atlanta Food Bank. And we have, you know, grocery stores if you will, although not charging anyone of course. And we have distribution days that are established. There's a different day set up at each of the safe centers depending on the month.

So, on our district website, the map of where our safe centers are and the dates of the food distribution are on the website. And so, once a month at each of those locations, we give away a significant amount of food, thanks to our partnership with Atlanta Food Bank and others. Thank you for the question. And

I would just like to add, this morning I actually started my day at Snap Finger Elementary. And to my amazement as I walked in, there was an entire barrel of food. So I want to urge those who are watching who have the capacity and the ability to drop by a local school and leave non perishable goods. These items are extremely critical during this time and I want to say that it feels good to stand here today alongside our DeKalb County Board of Education as well as our housing authority and the various departments that are truly on the front line of dealing with the needs of people. Our Human Services Department works extensively with our senior community and oftentimes they can be most heavily hit by vulnerabilities that are associated with with food.

Also, with housing and working alongside mister Allen Mitchell in community development, we are trying to meet people where they are. We do not want to see anyone in DeKalb County displaced as a result of a lack of resources. So I'm very proud to say that today what you see is a conglomerate effort by departments and agencies across DeKalb County to come together to meet the needs of those who are vulnerable.

Thank you. Do we have any other questions from the press? Going once, going twice? Alright. Thank you very much. Thank you for everyone here. Thank you all for joining us. We will have a press release that we will distribute later today, will have links and additional information about many of the things that we talked about, as well as a link to our resource guide, which again will be online and in print. In print and specifically, we will have them in senior centers and other places where folks may not go online as much to look for resources. So please be on the lookout for that, and if you have any additional questions, please follow-up with communications department. Thank you, and have a great day.

Water, the deep blue that brings our world to life. From rivers and streams to lakes and oceans, this is where Earth's stories begin. And once again, DeKalb County's youngest artists are telling those stories. For the twenty first year, Watershed Management invited elementary students to dive into creativity through its art calendar contest.

And when we're able to expose them to the operations, the vehicles, the plants, all the things behind what makes watershed management be able to deliver water for DeKalb County is just simply amazing to them and ultimately they're all future.

This year's theme, the deep blue, what lives in our streams, lakes, rivers, and oceans, asks students to explore the underwater worlds that swim, crawl, glide, and grow all around us.

The arts, it gives our students a voice. It gives them an opportunity to really show things outside of just writing, math, reading, and social studies. Arts matter. It's a connection to the real world situations, real world conversation, real world experiences that our students will face every day.

This year, 279 students from 13 elementary schools and one home school proved when it comes to creativity, DeKalb students really go with the flow. From colorful coral reefs to curious fish to mysterious deep sea creatures, each artwork tells a story about the importance of healthy, protected water.

The critical thinking aspect is so important. So they can sit down and they think of these, you know, solutions. How would you solve this problem? And that's what we need in the future. These are truly our our future and they are going to be our builders. They are going to be our architects. They are gonna be our problem solvers.

After careful review, 12 outstanding student artists were selected as official calendar winners. Each of these students has their artwork featured in the 2026 art calendar, turning their creativity into a yearlong celebration of water and life. This year's calendar cover artist is Isabella from Chestnut Elementary. Her artwork, the whale shark, celebrates one of the ocean's gentle giants and the clean water it depends on. With this year's talent pool deeper than ever, Watershed Management added a new honorable mentions category.

60 works will be featured on social media all year with four student artworks each week. Follow, like, and share. These young artists deserve a spotlight as bright as their ideas. The art calendar is distributed to county offices, libraries, and community spaces, sharing these messages of conservation, creativity, and wonder across our community. Congratulations to all the winners, honorable mentions, teachers, families, and schools for making waves with art, imagination, and a love for our planet. Aviva Hoffman, DCTV.

Today, I'm very excited because this is a manifestation of a groundbreaking facility. Transportation and logistics is one of the largest emerging fields. What we've done here with the transportation center and training logistics facility, we have created the largest such facility in the Southeast Region.

This transportation center represents workforce development in our entire region. Here, we're gonna train CDL workers, electrical line workers, logistics professionals. The entire industry is is what we're trying to serve to make sure they have a trained workforce.

At Georgia Power Company, we certainly believe in being a part of a growing Georgia. We know that there are large workforce needs, particularly in the transportation and industry sectors. So we are proud to be a partner and supporter with Georgia Piedmont to to grow some career opportunities and strengthen career pathways. All of our

partners are coming together today to celebrate what has been eight years in the making and we're so excited about it because it's gonna change lives.

I represent DeKalb County. I started this project with doctor Hosun well over four years ago and I secured that $6,000,000 investment along with members of the DeKalb Delegation from the state of Georgia.

This facility is a game changer for the state of Georgia. It shows our commitment to technical education, and I'm very excited because it's also a game changer for our economic development.

We realize that there is a deficit of education within this. I often sometimes call it education desert, and it is so exciting to be able to provide this opportunity for this region and the people in this community.

It's very important for us to invest in programs like this one here at Georgia Piedmont Technical College because it creates a strong foundation for our families, creating a pipeline where families or where students can go directly from being educated into well paying careers.

It's really the key to open doors that people did not know exist. And when you have that opportunity and that resource, it allows you

to become or sit at the

table with others who have had those resources and opportunities before. Georgia Piedmont Technical College is a great community leader, and at the end of the day, we will see the investment within our community based on the outcome of students who go through this program.

This is a project that we have to continue to support so that we can train young people so that they can power the jobs for tomorrow.

I'm a different kind of threat. I can't be scared away or negotiated with. You the cops on me.

Do you

still wanna hang out after?

I don't want your money or your TV.

I

don't even have to break in. I'm invited.

My mom's early Alzheimer's diagnosis gave us more time to seek out support as a family.

Good evening. I would like to begin this peace gathering by offering a short prayer to the Buddha. If there are any lay Buddhist in this group, please join me in that offer. Okay? These sacred verses mean I pay homage to the worthy one, to the enlightened one, respected, venerable Buddhist monks, senator doctor Appel Warnock, US congressman Hank Johnson, Georgia state representative Rua Roman, DeKalb County CEO Lorraine Cauceron Johnson, mayor Patty Garrett, all distinguished guests, leaders of different communities, Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of Walk for Peace team, I would like to thank you all for being here today and waiting for more than two hours.

Right? More than two hours in this cold for venerable to arrive here. That's so much love and respect. Thank you so much for being here. Today marks the day 66 of Walk for Peace, And I usually say we have completed this many miles, but I think from now on, we should start counting down.

So I'm gonna say we have little more than 1,000 miles left. So and, you know, the venerable monks have walked through small cities and larger cities all across America. So far, we have traveled five states. All along, we received a lot of love, support, and their message transcends religion, race, and politics because their message is peace

A speaker shall complete a speaker card and present it when approaching the podium. If a speaker has any documents for commissioners, the speaker shall provide 10 copies when approaching the podium. Seven copies are for the commissioners, and the remaining copies are for the planning director, the county attorney, and the clerk. Applicants or citizens speaking in favor of an item shall speak first, and applicants in zoning ordinance cases shall have the right to reserve time for rebuttal. Opponents of the zoning ordinance item shall have no right of rebuttal.

Once the citizens have finished speaking, staff should make a recommendation for action to the commission. At this point, citizens are no longer allowed to speak unless called to the podium by an individual commissioner to answer questions or provide information. Speakers should always talk directly into the microphone and begin by stating their name, address, and the name of any organization they represent. Abusive, profane, or derogatory language will not be permitted. Holding of signs, clapping, yelling, standing, or laying in the aisles to show support for or opposition to a speaker will not be permitted.

But a show of hands or quietly standing in place will be permitted to show support for or opposition to a speaker's position.

Thank you, madam clerk. We're gonna start with new cases. This is n one item 2026Dash0138, Commission District 5, Super District 7, application of Sunlight Leaf LLC, care of Battle Law, PC, to rezone property from r 75 to r 60 to allow a cottage home development at 1437 And 1453 South Indian Creek Drive. Good afternoon.

Good evening.

There we go.

My name is Andrea Fulgrey. I'm a senior planner with the current planning team. I'm going to walk you through the South Indian Creek Cottage home development request, which is the rezoning from R 75 to R 60. Community council voted to approve the item. Planning commission voted for a two cycle deferral, and the staff recommendation is approval with conditions.

One second. If we can get the presentation on our screens, please. Thank you.

It's located in R 75. It's the two parcels that you can see highlighted here in black. One to the north and one slightly to the south. The applicant is requesting to rezone to R60. R60 is also a single family detached zoning district.

It's a way that we can add low density residential with residential that's already existing and it will be consistent with the development pattern that's already there. It's also located in a suburban character area. Cottage Court developments are a great way to add well designed small scale infill. They add housing choice, income diversity and are again still able to maintain the limited density. Here's the aerial shot.

There is a floodplain to the south of the subject sites. The applicant was able to design a site plan that does stay out of the floodplain. Here is the final proposed site plan. They did go through a few iterations and worked with staff to

come up

with a concept that would support the suburban character area and also meet all of the cottage court development standards. Primarily staff felt this was still a little vehicular circulated rather than more focus around the central open space. However, we did offer 14 conditions total to help refine some of the site plan aspects that will make it better aligned with the cottage court development requirements. So staff is recommending a approval with 14 conditions. Thank you.

Thank you. At this time is the applicant present to speak on this item? Good evening.

Good evening.

Good evening board members. Can you hear me okay?

No. Is the light green?

It is green. How about now? Yeah. That's working. Good evening, board members. My name is Josh Mahoney. I'm an attorney at Battle Law PCE three five six two Howard Shemm in Northlake in Tucker, Georgia. Great to be seeing you all again. I think this is the first time this year I've been able to see you all, so happy to be here with you. On this one, we are proposing a what is now a 29 unit cottage development, off of South Indian Creek Drive.

From R 75 to R 60 is what we're looking for, and miss Fulgaret did a great job covering the the highlights. So what I'd really like to focus in on is the, design. This was an early iteration that we actually turned into the planning staff. This is where we started. And as you can see, we had our central green space split up with some alleyways, and it terminated the central kind of spine alleyway terminated into a dead end.

This design, while attractive, did give us some issues, especially from the fire department who said they would be unable to reach that unit down there in the Southwest Corner. And so what we did was we worked with the staff, we worked with fire to redesign our plan. Now we've got a circular kind of a loop road. So we've got two points of ingress and egress. This allows access to that unit down there that the fire department was concerned about.

What's actually happening under the ground is that we have a much better layout for storm water management. So we've got underwater storm water excuse me, underground storm water management that's working in a much better way than it was on our last plan. We did drop a unit going from our first plan to this plan, but it allowed us to better centralize our green space, allowing access for the folks who are fronting it there and sidewalk access for the folks who are on the west side of the property. They'll be able to walk right across the street and directly into, that green space. This was an early, rendering that we used.

We'll be fully complying with the, with the county's requirements per our conditions. So I think it's condition seven there asks us to stick to figure one. My client has told me that she is totally okay with that condition and the rest of the conditions. And so I'm asking this evening that you all vote to approve this application subject to those conditions. And that's all I've got, thank you.

Thank you. Is anyone here to speak in favor of this application? I'll do one more call. Is anyone else here to speak in favor of this application? Okay, seeing no one, is anyone here to speak in opposition of this application? Please come to the mic. State your name and address, sir.

Hi, my name is Gerald Boyer. My address is 4198 Kimley Cove. I'm directly behind the proposed property. We did duty calls with the Sunleaf development and we had a concern of two things and I was hoping I couldn't read it on the board to find out if they made arrangements for It was going to be a 10 foot buffer and we had talked about a privacy fence. I didn't know if that was addressed.

And then also the addition of the development for the future erosion to the creek bed that's on the side. So, I see they moved the one property off, but it was an assurance from them as far as the erosion of the land wouldn't be expedited even faster with the development there. So we were just looking for reassurance of the privacy fence and the erosion of the land and I didn't see anything in the 14 conditions that it said that. And we did meet with them on the Zooms to talk about those items.

Thank you, sir. Anyone else here to speak in opposition? One more call. Anyone else here to speak in opposition? Seeing no one else, would the applicant like to come back and address?

Thank you, commissioners. So, yeah, on our site plan, we're showing a 10

foot setback.

Okay, can you Speak up. I'm sorry. Can you speak up? Couldn't.

She couldn't hear you. Try again.

Can you hear me now? Okay, great. So, on our latest site plan, are showing a 10 foot setback that's going to serve as a separation from our units from the rear property line of those to the west of us. And as for a privacy fence, no, it's not listed in the conditions, but my client did agree to do that on the Zoom call with the community. So we're ready to do that.

Anything else, You may not No, that's it. Okay. Staff, would you like to come back and give your recommendation?

Thank

you. Is there a motion? Yeah.

I make a motion to approve I mean, with conditions, and I have a question.

Second.

A motion and a second. If we can get the machines back. Thank you. And if you can hit the request to speak, Commissioner Douglas Oh, well, here. Go ahead.

You got it. So now can the fence be included in the conditions? Yes. Well, let's include defense in the conditions. And, also, the 10 foot buffer, is that in the conditions?

Cottage on

board is That's a requirement. So that's addressed. And I think he said something about erosion. What did he say about that? Can can he can can you speak on that once more?

Well, the young man that spoke.

You want the gentleman who was in opposition. Sir, if you could come back up to the mic and explain the erosion aspect you were

And of course, I said young man. She said gentleman. Okay. You

Yes, the erosion of the property, since I've been living there because of the creek bed from our present development houses there has been eroding away. So we were concerned with the new development that's coming that it would contribute to a fast erosion. Our property is disappearing. With this being addition, we did bring it up to them, showing them the fence line way over the creek where it used to be the fence there, but the creek is a road away to land. But now when the new development come in, we will be concerned.

We just wanted the assurance that hey, they will help try to alleviate any addition problems with the erosion. Yeah, that's what the concern was with the erosion of the property.

Okay.

All right. But the other thing with the fence they did appreciate you making sure that they do include it because that was one of the things that we did bring up to them to make sure the 10 foot buffer was there which they can just touch right over into my house. So, we were hoping to make sure of reassurance that

a

fence does go up that would, you know, provide us some kind privacy.

Okay. Okay. Thanks. Well thank you. Now do you want to speak on the erosion?

Thank you Commissioner. Yes, So this did come up in our meetings with the community. I spoke to the engineer about this, and it's our understanding that the, the place that the gentleman is is talking about where it's eroding, it's actually inside of that floodplain. So Okay. We're not able to do anything directly to any kind of construction or anything like that. But what we can do is follow the county's guidelines when it comes to stormwater management and ensure that we're not making it worse than it is now. In fact, we we may be able to make it better by installing the stormwater management system and redirecting the water.

Okay. Well, thank you.

Of course.

I yield back.

You yield. Commissioner Bolton.

I had a similar question about the land erosion and just wanted to hear from planning staff if that was discussed with you guys as well. And if those reassurances were communicated to you.

Yes. So when we were reviewing the site plan and we went through a few iterations of it, we were concerned about the floodplain and they did rotate the units so that there wasn't a chance of once going to LDP and things shift around and you're actually doing ground under work that those would either have to be lost just to stay out of that buffer. So I think the applicant and staff had a few conversations about just the realistic ability for that many units. So they did drop a unit and kinda reoriented the the drive so that fire could access and that they could fit in the underground detentions better, which is preferred by staff to do underground detentions. So

And to confirm, it went from 30 to 29. Is that correct?

Yes.

Okay. 30 is in 30 is in the conditions.

And 29 is in the plan? Yes. Okay. The other question I just wanted to make sure was clear. What is the distance between the property line of the units closest to the floodplain and the onset of the flood floodplain?

So I think I can't actually see that far. Is it Unit 29 there, the Southwestern or

yeah.

Southwestern Corner. That one appears closest to the flood plain. So that's one where come LDP time and they would have to, you know, start really looking at ground under work, that would be a unit that they may or may not lose.

Okay. They

may six minutes. Sure how far

it is.

And I just wanted to add what you're seeing on there is actually the stream buffer, the 75 foot stream buffer. It's not necessarily the same as the floodplain.

Okay. It does not look like the floodplain is shown So on

the stream buffer is between the lot line and the floodplain.

So yeah, so there's a 75 foot buffer on each

side of Can we get that back on our machines? I'm sorry.

Rested vegetation of the stream. And it correlates with the floodplain, but they're not it's not a one to one. So Right. So the site plan doesn't necessarily show the extent of the floodplain, but that will have to be shown when they actually do their engineering drawings for permitting. And again, no disturbances can be made either into the 75 foot stream buffer without a variance or into the floodplain almost at all.

Okay.

Okay. That makes sense now because I saw a 30 on there and I know we confirmed 29.

Yes, old plan had the 30 and then they removed it to 29 in the latest plan.

Okay.

Okay. That's enough.

Yeah. I think so. And this does show the hundred year flood limits is close to the twenty five years state stream buffer. Commissioner Bolton, you saw the floor.

Yes. I'm sorry. Can you restate what you just said?

So if you look on there, there's a a different kinda shade of blue line that's close to the 25 foot state buffer. Mhmm. And that's called out as a hundred year flood limits.

Oh, I see. Mhmm.

So that's within the buffers though.

Okay. That's reasonable. But I did want to still ask in the event once construction begins, if the communities does see an escalation of erosion, is there a a plan to remediate or help to get the community back up to par where it was before the development started?

Yeah, I'm not sure. Sure. So as part of their land disturbance permitting package, they have to provide erosion control measures and there are constant inspections to ensure that they have best practices on-site and that there's not runoff or other adverse impacts. They also have to provide a plan that improves the stormwater runoff from the preconstruction conditions. So whatever they have now, the post construction will have to show an improvement in those runoff conditions.

Okay. Thank you. I yield back.

Thank you. You want to you okay, Commissioner Terry? Okay.

Yeah. I see the cottage?

Oops. This image.

Okay. And where is the parking? I see that is a certain amount of carports.

Yes. The parking is located along the northern portion of the site where it says private drive. You can

see some of

the parking spaces. And there's seven

Right here.

Carport units.

And that's in the back of the cottages?

Will be in front of the units that are kinda that light orange color. And with cottage home developments, the parking isn't supposed to be centralized. Mhmm. It just has to be within 200 feet of each unit.

Okay. Okay. I yield back.

Thank you. Commissioner Terry.

Thank you. Just a couple of quick questions. The so for condition number two, it looks like it still says 30 detached. Is that is that gonna be an issue if that the plan says 29 or should it say 29 or does that matter?

So it allows up to 30. So they just can't go over 30. If they want to recon reconfigure the plan with in limits of condition, I think we noted that they have to have it approved by the planning director in writing.

Okay.

You know we didn't really have an issue with the 30 units. We just wanna make sure that the planned is still going to, like, be pedestrian oriented and meet all of the requirements.

Okay. So it's possibly could add another unit, but it just depends if it fits.

Yeah. Okay. And we'd have to have a written approval for it.

Okay. That's fair. Can you go back to the site plan? Because the erosion thing was a good question because I was curious about the sort of the green area above the buffer. Is that already wooded or would that be part of the land disturbance? Will they clear cut all of that green or will they just stay right at the private drive?

I believe they would have to stay right at the private drive. Okay.

Don't It's a little like there was trees along the lake, I think, or the little pond area. So I'm that would be just my main referred question to Josh on that. Okay. Josh, so just the questions about erosion is was a great one because if there it looks like some trees will be taken out. And so I'm just wondering about if there's any landscape plan to plant trees on that southern part of the private drive that, you know, would help keep the erosion from that point on a little bit more in check?

Yeah. That's a great question. We've heard a couple of good ideas for what we could do with that space, but I like that one. So we're talking about if we could go to the site plan, please. Or actually, I I have it, don't I? This kind of triangular shaped area just north of the of the buffer there.

Yeah. I mean, really just honestly, wherever you're gonna have impervious surface and any disturbance of trees to replant it basically.

Yeah. Yeah. I think we could do that. I think that's reasonable.

Okay. Alright. Hopefully that would just you know, help. And I imagine the private drive will still slope north in terms of drain runoff into the storm water vault. But just in case it pulls over, there's some extra trees there. And then, Andrea, did the what did the school system score this as in terms of how many seats would be needed or whatever the student capacity ratio is?

I don't believe it exceeded any of the capacities, but I can double check that quick in the packet.

Okay. I think it would be just because this has been a big topic right now and probably will be for in the future. If we could like preemptively just get in the packet sort of here's what the school system estimates, how many, you know, seats would be needed. Think they're generally, like, these size homes, if I remember correctly, Rachel, I know you all are working on that sort of formula, but I think it's like 0.5 or something seats per cottage. Yeah. So just understanding kind of how these would impact Yeah. You know, an issue we're dealing with with 20,000 empty seats across DeKalb County Schools. I think it would help create the context of when we improve housing, certain types have different student ratios.

Yeah. They supply us the estimates for the packet, so we do include them. I just can't remember it off the

top my head. Buried though. Yeah. So just information. Add it to your

Oh, oh, it's staff report.

That you just automatically report on

Yeah.

Just so we're all aware up front. Yeah. Awesome. Thank you. Yield back.

Thank you. Any other question? Yes. That the schools systems You're ready. You turned it off.

I would think that the schools are informed when new development come in.

Yes. They supply us.

Yeah. The That's

what I'm thinking. Population.

Yeah. Because they would have to also be on top of their student population as it grows with new with new development within the county.

So

So The I I would think that the schools would stay on top of

So it's 18.

On top of that as well. I would think it's I would think it would be their responsibility as a school district to know when there's new development and make an anticipation of how that would affect their school system.

Yeah. We we do coordinate with them Yeah. And request interdepartmental comments. So here it is. They told us that this would be expected to generate 18 students, three at Roland Elementary, one at Bethune Middle School, three at Towers High School, and six at other, DeKalb County schools, and five at private school. It says that additional homes are not expected to have a significant impact on the neighborhood schools.

Commissioner Terry?

Yeah. Thank you, Commissioner David Johnson. I think that was a good point and thank you Rachel for sharing that. So one of the things and when we had Ms. Sarita Smith from the school system here last month, Madam Presiding Officer, she shared that across almost all the I think all the clusters, there are seat deficits or overcapacity and that is prompting potentially 20 plus school closures and consolidations.

And so what we had requested the planning department do and they have been doing some preliminary work, so hopefully we can share it with everyone the next maybe week or two. But the goal basically is to ask the school system, well, if X number of housing units were built in a school cluster, would that change your forecast of a school closure? And their answer was absolutely, because they're just they're basically running the numbers and they're saying, we have a certain housing stock, here's what we're getting out of it. And then when new development comes in, have to plan for that. And so I think the goal is to run the exercise of for Cedar Grove is a good example.

There are about fifteen twelve ish seats sort of gaps overcapacity. And I think the initial long range planning team estimated about 3,300 housing units would be needed new over the next several years that would prompt the school system to say, actually, we're gonna leave open these schools and maybe even expand them. Yeah. And but they they need to like have those like, when we approve these developments and I think when it goes to LDP, then they really begin to take it into account. And so it is a medium term plan, but I think helping us understand how this missing middle housing and a little bit more dense housing can help get us to those unit goals, which then could actually help grow the maintain and even grow the school system.

Yeah. Yeah, we'll start including those in the reports.

Thank you so much. Seeing no further requests to speak. If we could please open the machines for the vote. And that was to approve with the condition.

With the 15 condition being the eight foot privacy fence to the rear. One

of the conditions that were added was the fence. Okay.

So just wanna make sure the screen was just saying defer.

So Well,

I think that planning dealt with the erosion. They stated that.

Yes. So commissioners, if you would redo that motion and the motion would be approval with 15 conditions including a new condition for an eight foot privacy fence.

Right. Okay.

So you that is your motion. Yeah. We've already hit it. Don't hit it again.

No. And that's to defer.

No. See, she had already done that. So when you hit it again, the

the It

says defer.

But but above that, it says approve with with adoption with conditions.

Selection to adopt.

She hit it twice.

It's gonna it's gonna be a six foot privacy fence.

Six foot privacy fence.

Okay. Okay.

We're good to vote

but Thank you.

Right now, it's looking like it's a motion to defer because she hit her button.

Well, I can just withdraw mine.

Yeah. Okay.

So let's move forward to the vote.

See that's it. It's approved. Should I hit the button? I see it up there

too. Yeah.

Should I hit it?

Oh. She's doing it.

We need new technology.

Yeah. We're good. There we go. That motion to approve with the conditions carries. We are now on item n two, top of page three, item twenty twenty six dash zero one three nine, commission district one, Super District 7, application of urban view apartments care about a law PC to rezone property from o I zoning district to m r two zoning district to allow a townhome community at 3003 Chambly Tucker Road and 2936 Mercer University Drive. Welcome back.

Alright. So as stated, this was request for a rezoning from OI to MR2 for a townhome community. This may sound a little bit familiar. The address about a year ago they had applied for, the same applicant applied for a SLUP to do multifamily housing at this address. They were gonna rehab the existing office building on-site because of market conditions.

The plan has changed and they are going forward with the rezoning. Community Council voted for approval with conditions. Planning Commission was a two cycle deferral and staff is also recommending a two cycle deferral. The applicant has notified staff that they're in support of the two cycle deferral. They've requested it. There was some neighborhood concerns specifically about that eastern side of the property, the drive aisle there that is in the transitional buffer and just some site plan reconfiguration to better align with regional center and MR two zoning. Thank you.

Thank you. Is the applicant present on this item? Welcome back to the podium, sir.

Good evening commissioners. Josh Mahoney, Battle Law PC 3562 Havisham in North Lake Kentucky, Georgia. We did go ahead and submit the deferral request for this one for two cycles so that we could continue working on the site plan with the staff as well as with the community. Attorney Battle met with the community last night, so we're looking forward to continuing that dialogue. Thank you.

Thank you, sir. Is anyone here to speak in favor of this item? Is there anyone here to speak in favor of this item? Seeing no one, is there anyone here to speak in opposition of this item? One more time, anyone else, anyone here to speak in opposition of this item? All right, thank you. Ms. Andrea, if you'd come back.

Yes, the staff recommendation is a two cycle deferral.

Thank you. Is there a motion? Yes,

motion for a two cycle. It's my district two. I'm district one.

This is district one.

Oh, okay. It's okay.

We're still friends.

Motion to defer for two cycles as recommended by staff.

Second. I see no request to speak. Please open the machines for the

vote. That's That

motion to defer for two full cycles carries. The next three items are in District 4, so I will be passing the gavel to my madam deputy presiding officer.

Thank you, ma'am. And I just wanna confirm that I can read the three of these together, but then we take the That's votes correct.

Staff is recommending they do be heard concurrently.

Alright. N320260140. Commission Districts 4 and Super District 6. Application of Scope Builders LLC, care of Battle Law PC to rezone property from NS neighborhood shopping to c one local commercial to allow a convenience store with fuel pumps, a drive through facility for pharmacy and retail at 3820 And 3828 North Decatur Road. N 420260141.

Also, Commission Districts 4 and Super District 6. Application of Scope Builders LLC, care of battle Law, PC for a special land use permit to allow fuel pumps in an activity center or town center character area in the C 1 local commercial zoning district at 3820 And 3828 North Decatur Road. N 520260142. Commission Districts 4 and Super District 6, application of Scope Builders LLC, care of Battle Law PC, for a special land use permit to allow a drive through facility for a pharmacy in conjunction with a convenience store and retail in an activity center character area in the C 1 zoning district at 3820 And 3008 And 28 North Decatur Road. Go ahead.

Good evening commissioners. Adam Chappell, senior planner. Subject properties were most recently home to approximately 10,000 square foot building at CVS with an accessory drive through facility. Subject properties are located at the edge of a town center character area, which does encourage or which discourages automobile oriented development and encourages more pedestrian level development such as mixed use office and retail, again, as part of a mixed use development.

Let's see here.

The current drive the drive through that is there predates the current requirement for special land use permit and the operators would be changing. So special land use permit would be triggered for the drive through. In addition, fuel pumps in an activity center would also require special land use permit and the the rezoning is part of the package here that you see today. Town again, Town Center character area promotes the concentration of higher density residential commercial uses. The proposal you see in front of you, staff believes does not necessarily meet the intents and goals of this character area.

It adds to the uses that would be automobile oriented. It adds on several additional spaces here. The properties are also located within an area that was subject to the Memorial Drive revitalization corridor, small area plan that did mention that this particular area has an overabundance of of retail that is underutilized. Proposal, there are concerns with maneuverability, access, egress. You can see the location of the proposed fuel pumps would be in the middle what was a large portion of the parking area for the building.

Staff is typically supportive of adaptive reuses of existing structures when other items such as streetscape improvements for pedestrians are being made. The proposed improvements that we have seen with these site plans and and renderings are minimal. Again, the proposals as a as a package deal do not appear to meet the intent of that town center character area and Memorial Drive revitalization plan. And as a result, staff respectfully requests denial of all three items. And that's it, madam presiding officer.

Thank you. And do we have the applicant speak to this item or these three items?

Good evening, commissioners. Josh Mahoney, Battle Law PC three five six two, Howie Shimmer, North Lake in Tucker, Georgia. Commissioners, this has been a this has been a a tough case. We've been working with staff as well as the community to try to find something that will work for everybody. What we have for you this evening is what we've what my client's been able to, make peace with.

So that's really all I can do is present it to you. I know staff's recommendation, but what we've got, really is an abandoned building of the CVS, here at the corner of North Decatur Road and North Indian Creek Drive and Rockbridge Road. The property is zoned NS, and we would be changing it over to C one like the property across the street there. This photo, this is just from Google Maps from 2024. This is if you were standing there at the at the corner looking at the CVS, you could see that it is operating.

They've got a nice privacy fence, lighting. Everything's operating and going well. If you turn around, this was the QuickTrip. QT was that C 1 parcel, that kind of strange shaped c one parcel across the street. Also taken from 2024, they're operating and and doing well.

But just two years later, this image from January year, you see that the CVS has since shut down. This it's it's hard to say what caused this, whether this business wasn't doing well or if it's part of CVS's effort to close down stores across the country. But, nevertheless, it has since, shut down. The same goes for QuickTrip. I'm sure you're all aware that QuickTrip moved down the street, and they have since vacated this building, and they're in the process of, removing the tanks.

But all I have to say, there was once a pharmacy at this corner. There was once a gas station at this corner. Both have since left. So my client saw the opportunity to adaptively reuse the CVS property for both, bring both of those uses back to serve the community in this area, but do so in a way that introduce some additional retail to the building. Because the CVS buildings are quite large.

We don't need all of it for a convenience store, all of it for a pharmacy, but, you know, we thought we could try to sneak in a little retail to to service the community. And so in working with the planning staff, we landed on this final plan. We have our fuel pumps there in the front, just three islands. So for a total of six pumps, we would have EV charging here in the parking where the old CVS drive through was. We would convert that into EV EV charging as well as taking advantage of that drive through by positioning the pharmacy on that side of the building.

And then, of course, on the right side of the building would be the retail. The great thing about this is that the layout of the property generally wouldn't really change. We're trying to use as much of it as we can. So you see the layout is pretty identical to what CBS had saved for the fuel pumps there in the front. These are some early renderings that, my client provided just to kinda give you a sense of, how how the new uses would would fit on the site.

And then early on, we heard some concern from the community about lighting, and so my client provided us with this lighting example to show how we would be adding lighting to the building to light it up and make sure we're not, kind of blasting light behind the building into folks' backyard. With that, that's all I have for you this evening. I'm here if you have any questions. Thank you.

Thank you, sir. And at this time, do we have anyone to speak in favor of these items? In favor. Last call. Do we have anyone to speak in favor of these agenda items?

Okay. At this time, do we have anyone to speak in opposition to these agenda items? You can go ahead and move toward the microphone. Yes, ma'am.

Good evening, commissioners. Thank you for giving us this time. My name is Holly Beasley. I live at 3550 Cloudland Drive In Stone Mountain 30083. I'm here as the co president of the Dow Heights Civic Association Board representing my neighborhood which is directly behind this development.

And we just have a lot of environmental concerns about potential fuel pumps, additional traffic. That corner, you know, it's very busy and we literally have homes that back right up to behind this location. You know, we sent out a survey to our online survey to our neighbors and they were overwhelmingly against the idea of a fuel station or some sort of drive through or twenty four hour pharmacy. No one was for in our community. We had a lot of great suggestions from our neighbors of businesses that would be benefit to the community.

We had a sidebar conversation, a meeting with Josh, and we shared these results which he presented to his clients. So we have definitely done our due diligence to work with the developers to come up with a great because we, you know, we don't want a vacant building there either. Memorial Drive, especially our side of Memorial Drive, is full of vacant buildings. And the last thing we want is blight. And we understand that, you know, business, you know, from a financial standpoint, something needs to go there that is, you know, good for the developer.

And we understand that, but we also wanna make sure that our neighborhood is protected and that our we have a stream that runs through our neighborhood and it's already been polluted and damaged by other developments in the area. And the last thing we want is more potential to our watershed detriment. So we would definitely be against having something like the fuel station, gas station, or anything that runs late into the evening to subdivision because we want to protect our way of life, protect our residents, and, you know, keep our property values as high as possible. We're very active in the community. We're very present.

And we just wanna make sure that our neighborhood continues to be the great place that it has been since about 1959. That's how far back we go. So thank you. That's all I have.

Thank you for your comments. Do we have anyone else to speak in opposition to this item? You can join us at the podium.

Thank you. Thank you commissioners. I'm Fran Moore, 436 Greenridge Circle, Stone Mountain, Georgia, and a member and previous board president of Dial Heights. I really appreciate the opportunity to speak with you today. In addition to the many points that our current president, co president Holly Beasley spoke, I wanna add some additional and maybe some repetition since some of my points have already been brought up.

We would like to see the desires and considerations that we have for the property. We would like to see the old CVS property occupied but to be used for something that would maintain and support the diverse neighborhood and the community. We also want the property usage to be in sync with the Memorial Drive revitalization plan to cater to surrounding neighborhoods and the nearby college students. The space could be service providing, an office space providing jobs or a community destination such as a coffee shop or fresh food market. The possibilities are many.

We already have numerous small business across the street from this property at Campus Plaza, including small restaurants, clothing stores, just a multitude. But something different that would serve the community would be welcomed. This is a high pedestrian trafficked area and is very close to the MARTA stops, so it has convenient access. The property does not need to be rezoned as c one, a local commercial zoning as there are plenty of options within a neighborhood shopping zone that would meet the community's needs. The area definitely does not need another filling station, gas station, as we already have four within a five just a mile radius of this property.

One on the QT that moved onto Memorial Drive, the Valero on Memorial Drive, the Texaco North Decatur, and the Sitco on Northern Avenue, which is the farthest one and it's only a mile away. The other ones are within a mile. Our concerns about the property in the current proposal is the property is located at a dangerous dangerous and busy intersection of North Decatur Road and North Indian Creek Drive. The two ingress and egress points in and from the property are challenging as they feed into and from this dangerous and busy intersection. The property is very small in our consideration, with limited and tight parking.

It was very challenging to drive through that parking lot even when it was a CVS and it definitely does not need any obstructions to the limited parking area with fuel pumps. The property is adjacent as Holly said and above the backyards of many of our Doyle Heights residents and the streams that flow into North Indian Creek that runs through Dial Heights and ultimately into the South River which is a major waterway for DeKalb County. We do not need or want any businesses that would impact the environment or the water of DeKalb County such as more buried fuel tanks. We already have that contaminated issue across the street at the QT, where the former site of the QT was. Also because the property is adjacent to residential homes, as Josh said, we asked.

Asked that there not be late night or twenty four hour components to the development nor that it be a business that encourages loitering. We have school children from the neighborhood and the many nearby schools and colleges down the street on North Indian Creek. Business such as, businesses such as liquor stores, vape stores, sex stores, again would not be welcomed. We appreciate scope builders instance, insistence that all lighting be low impact and directed away from the neighborhood. Again, we want the former CVS property to be utilized, but we want something that will enhance the area, support the Memorial Drive corridor in line with the revitalization plan and a business that would support the community.

A neighborhood shopping district has plenty of options to meet those requests without rezoning or adding fuel pumps. Thank you.

Thank you ma'am for your comments. Do we have anyone else to speak in opposition to these items? Last call, anyone else to speak in opposition to these three items? Okay, would the applicant like to return back to the podium and address anything? Nope, I'm getting a firm no. Staff, can you return to the podium and give your recommendation, please?

Yes. Staff is recommending denial of items n three, n four, and n five.

Okay. And can you return the screens back to the voter machine at this time? Do we have a motion for item twenty twenty six-one 140?

Yes, Madam DPO. I move to deny item ending in 140 and I do have a comment.

Do we have a second? Okay. By Commissioner Johnson, second by Commissioner Terry. I see that Commissioner Terry has requested to speak.

Oh, think you were first.

Okay. Yep. Okay. He's yielding to Commissioner Johnson. Go ahead.

Thank you. And this is just a quick question. Miss Holly Beasley, when you get the opportunity, if you could share with my office the outcome of that survey, specifically what the neighborhood would like to see, I think that would be very helpful as we move forward. We're trying to get this parcel and this corner redeveloped. We definitely do want this area redeveloped, but clearly the community is against this specific project. Thank you, I yield.

Okay, thank you Commissioner Johnson, Commissioner Terry.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Can you put the map back up on the screen? And while you're doing that, director Bragg, I wanted to ask about the the proposal for the low lighting. Is that was that sort of in like the dark skylighting sort of framework?

So I don't think we

had any dark sky lighting conversations with the applicant. Okay. I think that that was just they provided that example of what lighting, exterior lighting could look like.

Okay. And you all have but you have supported dark skylighting

Yes.

Sort of plans on some previous applications?

Yes. We've made it a condition of approval on numerous applications.

Okay. Do you think and this is a good example because these are sort of the edges of neighborhoods where the lighting is like even more sensitive than if it was just a block over on Memorial Drive. But is this something that you all are looking at in like the zoning or other code updates of just sort of having that if you're within a certain buffer or area of a single family neighborhood or even just residential in general that you have to do the dark skylighting?

So our current outdoor lighting ordinance is actually pretty strict and prohibitive. The problem has always been enforcement. So currently it doesn't allow you're not allowed to shine any light that reflects on any other property other than your own. And so in that way, although not dark sky, it is pretty restrictive. But yes, we're also looking at updating that as part of our zoning code update.

Okay. And I guess the goal really by updating it is it standardizes all new development would in essence install lighting that is already prefabricated, right? So I think it seems like the issue in DeKalb is that we've updated our lighting ordinance pretty well. It could be kind of updated a little bit more.

But

basically, all these buildings were built years ago. And so you have to go in and be like, you have to convert your lighting now. And then that becomes a cost. And so yes, enforcement becomes difficult because someone's got to say something and then they got to go and get a contractor to put the shield over the light.

Exactly. And with new developments, we require actually a lighting plan. So we're able to review it at the time of permitting. But unless you're redeveloping to such an extent that it triggers full compliance with the code, we don't require that updates.

Okay, thank you for that, Director Bragg. Holly and Fran, thank you all so much for being here. It's good to see you all. Appreciate my Dial Heights friends and neighbors. Thank you.

And thank you, Commissioner Johnson for mentioning the survey. Would love to get the information on that. I think this area being in the Memorial Drive revitalization sort of small area plan, was an area that I was most excited about because I talked about creating more like neighborhood commercial. I think this was like the global mall kind of area. And so I think there's a real opportunity here and I wanted to put the map up just so we could like very clearly see that there's actually a lot of opportunity to do something that would make it less auto oriented and more pedestrian walkable.

And the one thing I wanted to ask our Dow Heist friends to do is to reach out to the school board members because the school system owns all that property to the West. It would be good if we could just sort of kind of fold in the future use of their property. Let's figure out what they want to do with it. And then maybe that would support some of these other goals that we're trying to do with more walkability, more office, small office, coffee shops, markets, things like that. Pedestrian friendly, those are all the words and things you used.

No more gas stations, no more vape shops, things like that. So, just more kind of neighborhood commercial that serves the community. So I think this is a real opportunity. So let's just keep working on it and to the applicant or whoever wants to work with us, let's keep kind of going in the direction where we're hearing our stakeholders in Dow Heights and the surrounding area that want to see. Thank you.

Alright. Can we return the Thank you so much. So we can see if there was any other request requests to speak from commissioners, we have a first from commissioner Johnson, a second from commissioner Terry to deny this item. Can we open the machines for a vote? Motion carries. Item two, zero two six zero one four zero was denied. Do we have a motion for item two zero two six zero one four one?

Yes ma'am. I move to deny this item as well.

Do we have a second? First by commissioner Johnson, second by commissioner Terry. No request to speak at this time. Can you open the machines for a vote? Motion to deny carries. Do we have a motion for item two zero two six zero one four two?

Yes, ma'am. I move to deny this item.

Do we have a second? A first by or motion by commissioner Johnson, second by commissioner Terry. No request to speak. Can we go ahead and open the machines for a vote? Motion carries to deny item zero one four two. And I yield the gavel back to madam presiding officer.

Thank you, madam deputy presiding officer. Officer. At this time, we are actually going to shift a little bit. Item N6 is a District 3 item. She had a family engagement and will be joining us later, so we're gonna move that towards the end of the agenda.

So we'll now move on to item n seven, item twenty twenty six dash 0144, Commission District 5, Super District 7, application of Aisha Bajanod and Nadia Nabivi, probably butchering that, I do apologize, to rezone property from R 85 zoning district to RSM zoning district to allow a senior housing development at 2111 Poplar Falls Road. Welcome back to the podium.

Good evening. As stated, this is a rezoning request from R85 to RSM to allow for a senior housing development. I do apologize. Did you call them both out at the same time?

Do I need to? N seven and N eight? Okay, I didn't notice that. Thank you. So item N eight is item twenty twenty six dash zero one four five commission District 5 Super District 7 application of Aisha Bajanod. I know I'm butchering that, I'm sorry. And Nadia Nabivi for special land use permit to allow a senior housing development in the RSM zoning district at 2111 Poplar Falls Road.

Thank you. Sorry about that. So as stated, the first application is for a rezoning from R85 to RSM to allow for a senior housing development. The second application is a special land use permit to allow for the senior housing development in the RSM zoning district. Community council voted for deferral, planning commission had voted for denial and the staff recommendation is withdrawal without prejudice for both applications.

While the site is large enough to accommodate something maybe outside of a single family detached house, given the infrastructure that's along Popular Road at this time and the lack of services to support the senior housing facility. The applicant and staff and the community kind of reiterated all of that feedback and the applicant has also chose to withdraw without prejudice for both applications.

Thank you ma'am. Is the applicant here to speak? I see, do not see the applicant. Is anyone here to speak in favor of this item? Is there anyone here to speak in favor of these items? Seeing no one, is there anyone here to speak in opposition of these items? One more call. Anyone here to speak in opposition of these items? Alright, seeing nobody. Miss Andrea, if you restate staff's position. I'm sorry.

Yes, staff's position is withdrawal without prejudice for both N7 and N8.

Thank you ma'am. Is there a motion?

I make a motion to withdraw these items without prejudice.

Second. And clarification, we need to take two separate motions? Okay, so this is for withdrawal for 0144.

Okay. Okay. Yeah.

Thank you.

Second stands.

Second stands. I see no request Please to open the machine for the vote. Yes, she had to separate them. Hit the button again. Thank you.

This was on N 7. Yeah, we should be on N 7. We jumped over, I'm sorry, we did jump over N 6. Yes, this is for N7. Yes, go ahead.

Commissioner Terry, you're gonna vote? Thank you. That motion to withdraw carries. Now item n eight in item twenty twenty six dash zero one four five. Is there a motion?

Motion to withdraw the second.

Second for that motion to withdraw zero one four five without prejudice.

Thank you. I see no request to speak. If we open the machine for the vote. And that motion to withdraw without prejudice carries. Thank you.

Commissioner Messiah has joined us. So if we can go back to item n six. This is item twenty twenty six dash zero one four three, Commission District 3, Super District 6, application of TK Investments LLC, care of Battle Law PC to rezone property from R 75 Zoning District to MR-two Zoning District to allow a multifamily development consisting of up to 39 dwelling units at 26742682 And 2690 Gresham Road. Welcome back to the podium.

All right. Good evening once again. Subject properties are zoned R75 and are located at the edge of a town center character area. Per our 2050 unified plan, the Town Center character area does mention that developments along the edge of that character area should be sensitive to surrounding development densities, notably to the south, east and west. There are a number of established residential single family detached subdivisions.

Should be noted to the immediate north, not at 2658, but at 2652 Gresham Road and above. Those properties are part of the I 20 Overlay District, which can allow for densities of up to, I wanna say, between 20 to 60 units per acre. The Town Center character area also encourages higher density developments. The proposal that we received from the applicant originally would serve potentially as a transition from lower single family detached dwellings to what could be done much higher density by right. Staff is ultimately supportive of this type of transition in density, but we are we do have concerns with the site plan, namely as it currently stands, it is a bit suburban oriented.

We would prefer the orientation of some dwelling units towards Gresham Road. The diversification of housing stock potentially additional types of housing than just what was originally being proposed. Staff does support the original site plans connection to what is currently a public right of way. To the south, there is a subdivision that go back. You could see where that public right of way actually borders the 2690 Gresham Road.

There have been some community concerns about having a connection there, but from a a planning perspective, we do support increased interconnectivity, providing options for pedestrians and for vehicles. It could potentially reduce traffic. That being said, the applicant has submitted a an updated site plan within the last week. They have requested a deferral of this case in order to have further discussions with community staff and members of the board. Staff recommends a two cycle deferral of this case to give us sufficient time to go over and potentially improve some of these plans.

Thank you, sir. Is the applicant here to speak on this item? Welcome back to the podium.

Good evening board members, Josh Mahoney, Attorney of Ottawa, PC, 200562, Havishamer Northlake in Tucker, Georgia. Commissioners, we have gone ahead and submitted the request for a two cycle deferral in accordance with staff recommendation. Truthfully, we asked for it way back at community council, so we need to go back and have those meetings anyways. So we're just here this evening to ask that you all grant that deferral. Thank you.

Thank you. Is there anyone here to speak in favor of this item? Anyone to speak in favor of this item? Seeing no one, is there anyone here to speak in opposition of this item? Good evening sir.

Good evening commissioners, my name is Tommy Travis advocate for the community with the South DeCalb Coalition. We were at the committee meeting, community meetings for this project and we are vehemently opposed to having those numbers of apartments on Gresham Moors. You can see by the site plan, it is surrounded by residential homes to the North and residential homes to the South and is directly across from a historic private school Johnson Learning Center. Now, we're not opposed to individual townhomes. We're opposed to the apartments to 51 individual units because we think that we need a traffic study and all the other things to go because Gresham Road is choked with traffic as it is.

It's a two lane road that may be slated to grow into a connected street at some point in the future, but right now still a two lane road. So, not opposed to the defer, we wanna talk to them. I just wanna note our objection for the record.

Thank you, sir. Is there anyone else here to speak in opposition of this item? Okay, seeing no one else speak in opposition. Adam, if you'd like to give your recommendation again. And if we can switch the machines, thank you.

And once again, we recommend a two cycle deferral.

Is there motion?

Motion for a two cycle deferral.

Second. Second with Commissioner Commissioner Terry has requested to speak. You have the floor.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Josh, for requesting the deferral so we can keep working on the site plan. One thing I wanted to note is this lot is a very sort of typical lot commissioners of areas of the county that are either underdeveloped or have sort of that suburban character area, but are kind of odd shaped and sort of have like stream buffers and are in transition zones. And the one we approved earlier with the cottage site plan, it sort of mirrors the first step is they try to do something suburban and then look at the cottage sort of court model where you put the street on the outside. So this is a good example, Josh, of taking that cottage court design and allowing the fire truck to come in and turn around, but use the rest of the land for that community green space, the single family cottages that can be fee simple so it can promote homeownership.

I do support seeing more purchase, for sale. And so it seems like the slot is perfect to consider sort of that missing middle transition from from the neighborhood into that town center higher density. So just something to think about as we move forward, but appreciate the opportunity to work with you. Thank you.

Thank you. Commissioner Messiah.

Thank you so much, Madam Peel. I appreciate staff's efforts. Josh, thank you so much. Deputy Bragg, Andrea, thank you so much. We've had a number of conversations related to this and not just this parcel, but some in a surrounding just trying to think long term and think ahead. And so thank you for all of your efforts, all of your work. I appreciate everyone's looking into this so that we can make sure that we're making the best use of it and we're doing the best that we can. With that, again, I support staff's recommendation for a two cycle deferral and appreciate Commissioner Terry's second on that.

Thank you so much. Seeing no further request to speak, please open the machine for the vote. That two cycle deferral carries. We are now at the bottom of page four, item n nine, item twenty twenty six dash zero one four six, Commission District 5, Super District 7, application of SAWA Partners LLC, care of Turomidean. Okay. Y'all are killing me with these names today. Yeah, for a special permit to allow recycling plant in the M Zoning District at 1313 And 1303 Lithonia Industrial Boulevard.

Hello, John Reed, current planning team.

Good to see you John.

Thank you. Properties The are 1313 And 1303 Lithonia Industrial Boulevard. It's a request for a special energy permit for a concrete recycling plant in the Light Industrial Zoning District. It's in Districts 5 And 7. The community council recommended approval.

The planning commission actually recommended a two cycle deferral. They wanted to see it come back through the process, when the plan was more complete. And the staff recommendation is a full cycle deferral. The industrial use is in an industrial, character area in the comprehensive plan along both sides of Lithonia Industrial Boulevard. It's also an industrial zoned area, and there's industrial uses in the vicinity, truck parking, landfill, and some vacant land.

We just received this concept updated concept plan a couple days ago showing the where the concrete materials would be stored and the internal circulation for the site when the trucks come in off Lythoni Industrial. The applicant also sent us this information that when the trucks are leaving the site, they have to drive over this, yellow matting material that will allow the the mud and debris to come off of the tires before going out on on the road. And then here's some site photos, showing there is a sidewalk along Lithonia and some tree street trees. And excuse me. Let me go back.

So staff overall staff supports the land use, and initially, we were concerned about whether they met all the development requirements. And city of Stonecrest also abutted this property. So out of courtesy, we sent the application to them for comment. And they had some of the same comments. You know, we did initially, you know, does it need an air quality permit? Are they gonna comply with the storm water requirements? What about the noise ordinance? Are they gonna save any of the trees? The applicant has provided information and answers to those. And as of a couple of days ago, staff feels like we have some information to where we can do a final review and start looking at some possible zoning conditions.

However, the Planning Commission, like I said, they did recommend two cycle deferral to the July cycle because they wanted to see this application come back when it was more complete. But the staff recommendation is a full cycle deferral to the May As we feel like we have enough information at this point to review. We are also open to other deferral options.

Thank you sir. Is the applicant present to speak on this item? Good evening, sir.

Good evening, commissioners. We are a team here representing SAWA, and, we are requesting a special land use permit 26Dash1247921 to allow concrete recycling. This business will take place on the M And Zone M Industrial Zoning District. Sawaw was founded in 2014 and has a a diverse business model and is looking to expand into the concrete recycling. At this time, I'm gonna bring up, Reginald Creighton, who is our engineer.

Good evening.

Good evening, commissioners. Again, like I said,

my name is Reginald Creighton. I'm with South Regional Resources in Lotho, Snellville, Georgia. So what I just passed to her was an updated site plan or sketch concept plan that we have for the project is two. Uh-huh. So I'll wait until you guys have

We can pause this time for a minute please. Thank you. Two different sheets. Yeah. I think there's

Thank you.

Alright. If we can start the clock, you can go ahead, sir. Thank you.

Yes. Thank

you. So if you look at the with the first layout or the site layout, the road to the north is Lithonia Industrial Boulevard. It does have two existing entrances and exes. The one to the west, we're proposing to block that off completely because it has no deceleration or acceleration

Can you talk a little closer to the mic, sir?

Oh, I'm I'm sorry.

There we go. Thank you.

We are planning to block the Western exit off interest and exit off completely because there are no deceleration or acceleration lanes. They are existing right now. If you look to the east, there is an exit with an existing deceleration and acceleration lane so the trucks can enter and leave safely. And there's also a curb cut in the median on Latony Industrial Boulevard existing. As you enter into the site, the dunk trucks will make a right as shown, and they will go in a loop pattern.

The trucks will go in a loop pattern around the site. If you see the first one, number eight, that is where the trucks will dump and unload the material, which is be concrete as they can that you continue on. Number nine, that was the conveyor that will crush the concrete. As you continue with number 10, that's where the material will be or the revised material would be. And before the truck leaves the site, it will cross what we call a track out mat that will if the area is muddy, they will take mud off of the tires before they enter onto back onto Lithonia Industrial Boulevard.

Also, dust will be controlled on the site with watering trucks. The conveyor belt will also be equipped with watering equipment to keep down the dust on the site. Also, as stated, the properties that he has is probably roughly 34 acres. Most of this site or what you see right here is the cleared portion. If you look to the south of there is an existing creek, and this area is heavily wooded.

So that will protect everything else. That will be a a natural noise barrier, as you might say, on both sides. Again, this area is basically all industrial. So there won't be any residences or complaining about the noise or anything.

Alright. Thank you, sir.

Thank you.

And you have about five minutes forty seconds left of your time. If you need to rebut or if the gentleman needs to come back up. Okay. Is anyone else here to speak in favor of this item? Good morning. Morning. Jesus, it's been a long day. Good evening,

How you all doing? I'm Frank Redding. I'm at 2527 Melville Avenue. I'm here to speak in favor of this. I'll just go over a couple of things you heard earlier.

One of the best things that we talk about here in this site, of the 38 acres we'll be using probably less than somewhere between six and nine acres of it. The rest of it is old growth forest which will remain that. I think the closest residence to this property, I think it's about two miles or certainly is in excess of a mile. We will use this. The economic development here, it's a little hard to see, but it exists because we will be hiring people from around the existing and we will be using some local businesses even to do some of the transporting of it.

We have recently gone through a tremendous amount of remediation on the property just to make sure that we were clear of the of any of any buffers that we needed to the to water. So we're hoping that you will give us a and we're requesting a two week deferral until your next zoning meeting because we believe that from the outset, we in our conversations with the staff, they have been very, very friendly to us and they've been very, very helpful to us. And we think we are almost at a meeting of the minds so we can come back a record some staff recommendation that would include some conditions that we think we could easily meet. Thank you.

Thank you, sir. Anyone else in favor of this item? Seeing no one, anyone in opposition of this item? Good evening.

Good evening. Gina Mangum, East DeKalb Community Coalition. Community is adamantly opposed to this development. And one thing that these, planning department and the applicant are not talking about is you all just approved a 331 home housing project across the street. Now granted, it's a big street and so it may not be within the 500 feet that has to where people have to be notified, but I'd like to point out that I was the only one at the community meeting, the pre application community meeting.

It was held in December on a Friday night, which is probably the absolute worst time to get people out. I also looked at the addresses. There were no addresses on the list. They were email addresses, so we really don't even know if they met the requirements of contacting people, that are required by the code. We don't need this kind of economic development.

We haven't talked about how many jobs it will provide. However, if you look at the area, it it is industrial. But Stonecrest has committed over the last nine years or eight years not to put anything heavy industrial in this space. For years, we fought an asphalt plant, a biomass plant, we got the landfill closed. It was one thing after another.

And now, come back. I actually thought this was part of Stonecrest, but apparently, there's still a portion that is unincorporated Lithonia or unincorporated DeKalb. But, they've really done a nice job. The auto parts place is well landscaped. They've made requirements.

Stonecrest has made requirements for tree buffers and other things to keep this area more in line with what's happening in the in the development part. And so, I would just say, number one, I don't think the people across the street even have any idea of what's coming their way, But, I would say that development is not even built out. And, in order to take care of your constituents, I really think it would be disingenuous for them to buy these homes, come in, and then find out that there's gonna be a cement recycling or concrete recycling plant. Not to talk about the environmental risks, the dust that's that's created, there's just a lot of reasons not to put this there. Finally, in terms of just what's going on in the area, Lithonia, as you've heard many times before, is already inundated with pollution.

We just do not need another dust emitting plant near neighborhoods or anywhere in Lithonia. So, would really like to a legal opinion on whether or not this violates the prohibition against material waste that was put in place just for this reason several years ago. So, I think that's something we need to look at. I've also looked up, Sawa Partners LLC. I don't know how much experience they have in this business, but when you talk about environmental concerns, I think we need to make sure that they have some experience in what they're doing and aren't just putting forth plans that are nice to have.

So, I don't know who they contacted in Stonecrest. They said there was a letter sent, but I do know that when Metro Green, which was a similar development, was proposed, it actually There was a lawsuit behind that. So, I can't believe that the residents of Stonecrest would be supporting this type of project. So, for all those reasons, we would ask for a denial. And I might point out, the reason why the vote was five zero zero Well, first of all, I don't even know if that's a quorum for the community council, but the reason why the vote was probably five zero zero is there was nobody from the community there.

No one knew about it. I couldn't make the meeting and so nobody was there to represent the community. So, if nothing else, it should at least come back where folks have to have some input into what's going on in this community. And, we just ask you, please, please, please stop putting industrial development in black communities. I hear folks, you know, talking about they don't want a gas station in their neighborhood. We're not even talking about a gas station. We're talking about a polluting, dust emitting, concrete facility and we just don't need it. Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else in opposition? Good evening, ma'am.

Renee Kale, Citizens for a Healthy and Safe Environment. Thank you for giving us a chance to speak. I'm looking at this picture. It looks like pollution, the dust from cement plants is very dangerous. The cement industry, a foundation of global infrastructure development, significantly contributes to environmental pollution.

Key sources of pollution include dust emissions, greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide, and the release of toxic substances such as heavy metals and particulate matter. These pollutants contribute to air, water, soil degradation and are linked to severe health conditions in nearby populations including respiratory disorders, cardiovascular diseases, and increased mortality rates. Noise pollution is also a significant issue inducing auditory diseases that affect even the workers in cement plants and disturbing the population living in the neighborhoods. We have explored pollution paths and the multifaceted impacts of cement production on the environment. It also highlights the social challenges faced by communities, particularly black and brown communities and rural communities.

I don't know why they keep putting them in our neighborhoods. It underscores the urgent need for stricter environmental policies and the adoption of greener technologies to mitigate the adverse effects of cement cement production on both the environment and human health. Cement recycling centers in Georgia, particularly in areas like Stonecrest, face opposition, Stonecrest and Lithonia, due to significant negative impacts, air and noise pollution from crushing operations. It creates heavy traffic and raises environmental justice concerns affecting the nearby residential neighborhoods. Particulate matter reduces air quality, and the process can also result in runoff that contributes to soil erosion and water pollution.

Residents often complain about noise pollution and the proximity of industrial activity to neighborhoods as seen in the Metro Green case in DeKalb County. Safety hazards, unprotected construction debris and rubble from improperly managed sites can clog, spill, and threaten local areas, leaching risk. Recycled concrete aggregate can lead to the leaching of heavy metals into the soil or groundwater. Polluting industries in and around Lithonia include metal processing, shredding, granite quarrying, nearby logistics, related traffic emissions the area has experienced or is adjacent to concerns regarding a metal sheltered shredded wire chop line on Chapman Road and risk associated with heavy traffic, which contributes to areas elevated particulate matter and poor quality index. Diesel exhaust is a toxic mix mixture of gases and fine particulates known to cause short term lung health issues, respiratory, cardiovascular, and asthma.

And I'll let, my colleague speak. Thank

you, ma'am. Good evening, ma'am.

Good evening. Nia Harper, Citizens for Health and Safe Environment. DeKalb County has a major risk from air quality. I don't know if you guys are looking at this picture, but the first thing I thought about was air. It looks gray. It looks like it's cloudy. And as the as the former man said, he you guys are it's a dump. It sounds like a recycling facility, but it's a it's a concrete dump. DeKalb County has a major risk. The number of poor air quality days, air quality index over 100 in DeKalb County will be higher in thirty days in thirty years.

Based on the number of poor air quality days, DeKalb County has worse air quality than 94% of counties in Georgia. Environmental factors like industrial, power generation, and transportation emissions can contribute to local particulate matter but this particular industrial business contributes even more. Risk factor assumes these levels will remain constant into the future to isolate the impact for climate change. Other EPA this is from EPA criteria pollutants including nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, leak can also contribute to air quality levels. So my concern for the neighborhood, for the 300 home buyers that will be coming to the neighborhood is air quality.

Right up the street from Lithonia Industrial is where they're doing all the I-twenty construction. So it's already gray in that area. Thank you.

Thank you ma'am. I believe the applicant had a few minutes left if he wanted to rebut anything. All right, seeing no movement from the applicant. If the staff would come back and give their recommendation.

Staff recommends full cycle deferral.

Thank you, full cycle deferral. I just double checking on the applicant. Okay, thank you sir. Is there a motion? Yes.

Yeah.

Hold on. Yeah, the applicant is coming back up. We're a little out of order, we'll allow this.

Oh, thank you. I just wanted to address some of the things that you wanted. So If you can

address us, sir, and not the audience.

Yes, I'm sorry. Yes. So as as as for the bad air or again, he will have dust trucks on-site. Also, the conveyor itself will be equipped with watering equipment to keep the dust down. And as we stated, his total property is probably 38 acres, and the majority of it is trees.

It's a portion of the property is traversed by a creek, an existing creek. So a lot of this is up front and is already is already been removed a lot. What's going to be removed is removed. And right now, we're they aren't planning to remove any more trees for this part of construction. So that will be a noise barrier there. They we do have things in place to keep the dust down. Also, we will be doing, erosion control on-site to prevent erosion and things of such nature. And so that's all I want to say.

Thank you sir. You can continue with your motion Commissioner Davis Johnson.

Yeah I'd like to defer this item for one cycle and of course better go back to planning and community council and I have a comment.

Alright. Second.

I have a motion and a second you have the floor Commissioner Davis Johnson. Yeah.

Now the neighborhood I think that is being spoken of was in the city of Stonecrest So we did not approve that neighborhood.

That's not

And so I just wanted to clarify that. And secondly

You know you cannot come to the microphone unless you're asked to come to the microphone. Thank you. And secondly Please have a seat, ma'am. Thank you.

And secondly, I'd just like to say that you all mentioned Metro Green. Metro Green was approved by Stonecrest. And, of course, I led the charge to get that try to get that reversed by, showing that the cab attempting to show that the cab had the exclusive authority for recycling throughout the county. And, of course, we contacted our neighbors in District 5, although it was in the city of Stonecrest. So I'm very familiar about pollution, the environment, and the effect that these particular industrial recycling plants have on our neighborhoods.

So I intend to speak with the appropriate departments about this. And in addition to sending it back for community council, I'm sure that you all will inform the communities that are involved and the people that are involved so that they will be at the community council meeting and the Planning Commission when it comes back up and I will have additional knowledge on it when it comes back up. So with that I yield back.

Thank you. Seeing no further requests to speak please open the machine for the vote. Motion to defer for a full cycle carries. We're now on the top of page five, item N10, twenty twenty six dash zero one four seven, Commission District five, Super District 7, application of Gregory Scott to rezone property from R100 to RSM zoning district to the development of a triplex at 6136 Shadow Rock Lane. Good evening sir.

Good evening. I'm Lucas Planner with Planning and Sustainability. And I'll keep this short. We are recommending withdrawal without prejudice. This was requested by the applicant. Here's the email as proof. This was done after planning commission recommended at the same as well and community council had recommended denial. And that was all I have to say.

I love short and brief. Thank you, sir. So, is the applicant here tonight? Not seeing the applicant, is there anyone here to speak in favor of this item? Anyone in favor? Okay, is anyone in opposition of this item wishing to speak? Anyone wishing to speak in opposition? Seeing no one, Mr. Lucas if you can come back and give staff recommendation.

Recommendation is withdrawal without prejudice.

Thank you sir. Is there a motion?

I make a motion to withdraw

this item zero one four seven. I make a motion to withdraw twenty six zero one four seven without prejudice.

Second. We have a motion and a second. I see no request to speak. Please open machine for the vote. Excuse me, that motion to withdraw without prejudice carries. The rest of the agenda includes District 3 and she has requested that we, Commissioner Messiah, thank you. It has been a long day. We've been here since 09:00 this morning. She has requested that we hear N15 next and then continue with the printed agenda. So now that is item twenty twenty six dash zero one five two, Commission District 3, Super District 7.

Application of Sandra Queen on behalf of the National Association of Minority Contractors of Greater Atlanta, Arthur j Queen Institute, and EGM Atlanta to request a street name change to change the street designated as Eastside Drive to Arthur J Queen Drive. The property is located within the C1 Zoning District and Tier 3 of the I-twenty Overlay District. Good evening Deputy Director Bragg.

Good evening. Could you flip to the last slide and no it's not working. Okay. So the staff recommendation for this item is for approval and the Planning Commission also recommended approval.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Is the applicant here? Good evening ma'am.

Good evening.

Good evening.

My name is Kelsey Queen Robinson and I am representing my mother Sandra Queen, who's in the audience. Arthur Queen was a dedicated entrepreneur and a cherished member of the DeKalb County community for over forty years. His extensive contributions to the field, particularly in construction and his active involvement with the National Association of Minority Contractors at both the local and national levels have left a lasting impact that deserves recognition. Arthur Queen's leadership in the industry and community helped shape the economic and social landscape of DeKalb County. As a trailblazer in the construction industry, he broke barriers and opened doors for others to follow in his footsteps.

His efforts were recognized with numerous awards, yet we believe this public acknowledgment through the renaming of East Side Drive is a fitting tribute to such a remarkable individual. His service on numerous boards within the community includes the National Association of Minority Contractors, the DeKalb Chamber, the Atlanta Business League, the one hundred Black Men of DeKalb, the Metro CID, and the deacon and chairman of the board of his beloved church, Love Life Christian Fellowship, which is also located in DeKalb County. Because of his contributions and belief in the building of community and providing second chances, an institute has been established in his honor to provide a training program for residents in DeKalb and teach them a lifelong career of installing windows. And we have numerous success stories from the program of men and women who've changed the trajectory of their lives. Arthur J.

Queen didn't just build structures, he built foundations for others to stand on. In an era when urban develop can often be overlooked and undervalued by the very people living in the city's heart, Mr. Queen operated with a different philosophy. He understood that a building's true value was measured by jobs being created and the pride it instilled in the local neighborhood. His business acumen was matched only by his mentorship.

He was known for opening doors that had long been bolted short for contractors and young entrepreneurs ensuring that the Queen legacy was synonymous with economic empowerment. Let us honor Arthur Queen's memory by ensuring that his contributions and values are forever enshrined in the name of a street that many people traverse every day. This renaming will not only acknowledge his personal legacy, but also highlight the importance of community leaders who have dedicated their lives to making a positive impact in our neighborhoods. A dedicated husband, a beloved father, and an admired grandfather. Arthur J's Queen's Life was a narrative of construction of buildings through windows, of character and of a better future for his community.

Dedicating a street in his honor is the county's way of saying that while the man has passed, the path he paved is still one we should follow. Thank you.

Thank you ma'am. Is there anyone else here to speak in favor of this application? Good evening, sir.

Good evening, commissioners. My name is Tommy Travis, advocate for the community with the South Coalition. I won't belabor the time by speaking what we've already heard about Mr. Queen as a pillar of the community and a hidden figure in South DeKalb. I think that renaming the street is truly appropriate and DeKalb would be honored to have the street named after him in accordance with the new fire station that's coming to memorialize Mr. Queen that way a man who dedicated his life to others. Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else wishing to speak? Anyone else from this family wishing to speak?

Yes. Any of the sons, come on.

They don't have to, they don't want to.

Well, I'd I'd just like to say that this

would be

a wonderful honor for my dad. He was an upstanding, upright man, and he led by action. And I followed him through the business since the inception of the business, and it truly changed my life, and it gave me something to stand on for the rest of my life. And it would be an honor just to see his name as you turn off of Wesley Chapel. That's it.

Thank you. Thank you. Alright. Seeing anyone else wishing to speak? Good evening ma'am.

Good evening commissioners. It's an honor to be here and I thank you even for the consideration and opportunity. As you've heard, Arthur was a wonderful man. Not because he was my husband and it would be befitting. Arthur would always say when he was applying for LSV and other contracts and other organizations, he would always say, I live in DeKalb, I work at DeKalb, I am DeKalb. And I think that local street would just be so befitting to name Arthur J. Queen Drive, Mr. DeKalb.

Thank you.

Thank you ma'am. Anyone else wishing to speak in favor? Okay, I see no one else coming forward. Anyone wishing to speak in opposition of this item? Anyone wishing to speak in opposition of this item? Okay seeing none, Deputy Director Bragg.

The staff recommendation is for approval.

Thank you. Is there a motion?

Motion to approve. Second.

Motion and a second. Commissioner Masaya has requested to speak. You have the floor ma'am.

This just warms my heart. You know, wish we could have gotten this done a couple of weeks ago when we had the honor to be able to provide a proclamation on behalf of your husband, your father, but I appreciate you guys, taking the trip to come back down better late than never. And I, you know, wanted to make sure that it didn't drag on too long. We didn't have you here at 10:00 at night, but this is just an opportunity to celebrate an amazing man, a pillar to our community, a stable to DeKalb County, and I am honored and sincerely have the pleasure to support and encourage, put this forward to make sure that a befitting man actually has his due recognition here in DeKalb County by having a street named by him. So just thank you so much for all that you allowed him to lend to DeKalb County and the efforts all of his sacrifice because I know that it was him and it was all of you that supported him along the way.

With that I yield back to you Madam Pio.

Thank you Commissioner Messiah, Commissioner Davis Johnson.

I tell you it's so very deserving and of course you all know that he touched my heart. He was a incredible human being, very humbled, and he touched so many different lives that they,

many,

would not know. So this is a very deserving honor, and this means his legacy will live on. And it's also it also comes in Women's History Month because he instilled in his daughter, Kelsey, how to run that business. When I first met him and I first met Kelsey, she was right by his side. And so, miss Cleen and Kelsey, you all are carrying forth his legacy.

And I know that he's looking down in appreciation and love for his whole family because he loved his family. And so my heart is full tonight for you because I know this is something that you want. I look forward to being there when that street that always cut through, will be named. I can always I

can

never remember that street that I cut through, but I'll always know now. If somebody asked me, what's that street you cut through? I'll probably say Arthur Queen Street. So thank you and I yield back.

Thank you Commissioner Davis Johnson. Commissioner Bolton.

Thank you. Thank you madam presiding officer and I'm gonna be extremely brief but I wanted to share with the family just as proud as you are, we're even more honored that you allowed us to do this because we've attended over the past year a couple of street renamings whether it was for the state or cities or different things. But when we get an amazing community member who has left a legacy in the space where they live, work, worship and raise their family, it's an honor for us to be able to name the streets after those people. And, I was sharing with my husband the other day that the reason a lot of men are great or have great legacies is because of the women in their lives. If you think about MLK, we the reason we have a legacy for Martin Luther King or his birthday is a holiday is because of Coretta.

Or if you think about Tupac for instance, it was because of his mother and so many others. It's the women who create legacies for the men who did amazing things for their communities. So, thank you for allowing us to share in those legacies. And, I can't wait to join Commissioner Messiah and the Queen family when we do the ribbon cutting and the actual celebration. It's gonna be an amazing time. So, thank you for allowing us to do this for you. I yield back.

And, I'll just say I think we all want to be at the ribbon cutting, so I hope we all get that invitation. Do. Thank Don't leave us all out. Okay.

I know they wanna hold it at seven and three, but we want to be there.

We're all going be there. We're excited about this.

We're

Seeing no further request to speak, please open the is approved. Congratulations. The extra large sign. Yes. And maybe an extra one for the family to take home with them.

Chasing him.

Oh, it's

fine. Mhmm. Alright. We are back on track. We're going back to page five, item n eleven twenty twenty six dash zero one four eight, Commission District 3 Super District 7 application of Greater Stanton Grove, NBC, care of Yvonne Rees for a special land use permit to allow a place of worship in the R 100 zoning District at 4031 Rainbow Drive. Good evening, Lucas.

Greetings again. My applicant is here. He does have a very detailed presentation about the operations and the land and the small improvements he's making to the lot. So, my presentation will be more on the surrounding area. Here's the zoning map. We see it's R100 in the area. So, we do have residential to the east, west, and north. But to the south, we do have an elementary school bordering this property, which we see as like a proper transitional use. Here's a land use map where we see it's suburban in character. It does meet all the supplemental requirements for a place of worship and also borders institutional land use.

But what I think best tells the story is this aerial. We see that the land itself is you can see a u shape created by the trees creating a nice barrier and buffer between them and the surrounding buildings. So, we see this as an appropriate use. And that is all I have to say and I do believe my applicant has a presentation.

Thank you, sir. And applicant is present this evening. Good evening ma'am.

My

name is Sony Jackson. I am representing Greater Stanton Grove Missionary Baptist Church 4031 Rainbow Drive. Good evening and thank you for this opportunity to present today. Greater Stanton Grove Missionary Baptist Church is a small community focused congregation. They currently have an average of average attendance of about 20 individuals on Sunday on Sundays. Our operations are limited primarily primarily to Saturdays and Sundays, ten to five, with only occasional evening services.

Sorry.

We are proposing a continuous use of the existing building as a place of worship and community service. This includes worship services, ministries, preparations, and meetings, youth programming, small group fellowship, and bible studies, and community outreach activities. We as we look ahead we have a few improvement plans for the property. This includes landscaping enhancements and also installing a digital sign in the future which will you which we will use to communicate church information and community announcements. As a part of the slut process, slut process, we hosted a community meeting 12/01/2025 at the property's location.

We had about 27 attendees doing that meeting. We had a very positive response and most of the people who attended the meeting thought the church was had already been zoned for thought the building had already been zoned for a church. Given our small congregation, traffic generated by a church is minimal. We're on we have significant parking which has about 60 parking spaces. We have parking in the back and some in the front.

We are deeply committed to being a positive and active part of this community. We prioritize open open communication and being responsive to the needs of our neighbors. Some of the community services that we have provided have been back to school drives, community yard sales, and a holiday food basket giveaways. In closing, Greater Standing Grove Missionary Baptist Church is we just want to thank you for your time, your consideration, and the opportunity to serve this community. Thank you.

Thank you ma'am. Anyone else here to speak in favor of this item? Good evening, sir.

Good evening. I'm Tommy Travis, advocate for the community in South DeKalb Coalition. I come before you because this house of worship is a simple community, church house of worship and they want to they've been operating in the community for a while now. They just want to officially do it by having a permit so they can put up a sign. They are not a detriment to the community. And the sign would add value to the community. Would defer obviously to the Planning Commission for their rules and regulations over the sign, but they need to have permission to install the sign first with us what the slow process is for. So we ask for your approval. I think they came out here to pass her and a few other members are here asking for your approval and we do not oppose it.

Thank you. Is anyone else in favor of this item? Alright, seeing no one else coming forward to speak in favor. Is anyone in opposition of this item? Anyone in opposition? Alright, seeing no one. Lucas, if you will tell us staff recommendation one more time.

Our recommendation is for approval.

All right, is there a motion?

Motion to approve with the adopted

conditions. Second.

We have a motion and a second. Is there I see no request to speak. Please open machines for the vote. That carries. Approval carries. Thank you. On to N12, item twenty twenty six-one 149 Commission District 3 Super District 6 application of wind transitional home care of Cartesha Cox and Tamaria Weaver for special land use permit renewal to allow a childcare institution in the R75 zoning district for up to six clients at 1890 Weekerk Road.

Greetings again. If I had to use one word to describe this application, I would use undercooked. And that is why we're recommending withdrawal without prejudice. As you see, we originally had to cycle deferral because they simply weren't that deep into construction with their project. So, we're recommending withdrawal without prejudice so they have time to go back, finish more of their project, make a proper proposal and be able to come back with a proper application. Regarding a two cycle deferral that would put them under a development pressure to get their project done within a certain amount of time. Otherwise, that's all I have to present.

Thank you, sir. I like that term undercooked. Is the applicant present? Not seeing the applicant. Is anyone here to speak in favor? There's hardly anyone left in the crowd. Anyone here in opposition? All right. Mr. Lucas, if you will come back and give staff recommendation.

Our recommendation is withdraw without prejudice.

Is there a motion? Motion to withdraw without prejudice.

We have a motion and a second. Oh, Commissioner Patrick.

He started the dad jokes.

He did start with the dad jokes.

PWI, sir, is where we maintain those good quality jokes. We know zoning is too serious for that, but

that's it.

That was your comment?

That was

my comment.

Seeing no other request to speak, please open machine for a vote. This is what happens when we're at, like, hour twelve, wherever we're at. That motion carries. Thank you. We won't be at fifteen. We're not. We're we're we're getting there. Got two more. We are at n 1313, item twenty twenty six dash 0150. Commission District 3, Super District 6, application of Eisenhower Services Incorporated, care of Tracy Swarrington senior to amend the character area for light industrial to suburban character area to allow a single family residential development at 1680 And 1700 Henrico Road. Good evening,

John.

And there's also a companion rezone case on the next one. Oh,