Mayor and Council - Regular Meeting

in Savannah. I did. All right. This is

a I'm not sure. Yes. All right.

Why do I have this up here? Heather, is my mic not working? No, it works. I just don't need this probably. Oh, they must have had trials because they've got this

It's working. All right. Hello everybody. We're going to call this meeting to order. Um we have with us tonight Pastor Joel Smith, Smyrna Presbyterian Church, 3130 Atlanta Road. Like to invite pastor up uh for the invocation and pledge. Everybody please rise. Join me in prayer. Oh God, you are the great God that is to be praised. We

thank you for this day that you are the creator and maker of all things, the provider, sustainer, and source of all things. It's in you we live and move and have our being. Lord, we come this night humbly to you praying for our great city, the city of Smyrna, Georgia. We thank you for its years of history, for those that have gone before us, the shoulders upon which we stand. Lord, we pray that our best days would yet still be ahead. Pray for our councilmen and women this night. We ask that you'd give them wisdom, insight, and discernment to lead the people of this great city. Give them leadership. Pray that they would do things willingly and with a servant's heart that only you can give. Lord, we pray this night for our first responders, our city workers, our businesses, our churches, our community centers, and other ministries around this town. Would you be with them, protect them, use them? God, you are good. And would we, your people rise up, praise you, and bless your name. And in this Thanksgiving month, would we give you thanks with great gratitude in our hearts to you. Pray all of this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. If you please join me in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you, pastor, for being here. Appreciate it. Uh, our clerk just told told me that um as we go through this meeting, if you are wanting to come speak, you'll be sworn in by our city attorney and then you'll sign the sheet

as you come up. I don't think anybody signed it on their way in. So, housekeeping thing there. Um, we next is agenda changes. We do have one agenda change and I'd like to have a motion to suspend the rules to add an agenda item. We have a motion by Mr. Lley, second by Miss Hines. All those in favor of suspending the rules to add an agenda item, please vote. Approved unanimously. Um, I need a motion now and and I'll tell you why this is being put on here. Um, we closed the green space, the the King King King King Street from Bank to Powder Springs on the weekends a few months back because there's been so much activity in the downtown green space, right? People are down there all the time. Well, we did it through uh the end of daylight savings time because we thought, well, it's going to be cold and it's going to be dark and nobody's going to be down there until it was 73 degrees this weekend and it was a ton of people down there and on Friday it wasn't closed. So, the motion that I need is to close King Street from Bank to Powder Springs on weekends from Friday afternoon at 3 PM to Monday morning at 700 a.m. All weekends going forward. Have a motion and a second to add this to the agenda. Uh, all those in favor, please raise your hand. That's added to the agenda and that will be under formal business item J. Thank you. So, now we're moving on to the mayoral report. And I'm going to start with a special recognition. I have a few things I want to go over, but um we have had a we've got a ton of talented youth here in Smyrna, particularly in athletics. And um over

the last several years, we've had soccer teams and gymnasts and basketball and baseball and wrestling and you name it, we we've brought it swimming, all of it. I think this is the first time that I remember uh in all my time here that we've recognized a champion golfer. And so I want to read a little bit about Robbie Alexander III. And and Robbie, can you come up here to the front? And and I'm gonna I'm going to recognize you here. A little bit about Robbie. Robbie Alexander III is right here at Campbell Middle School in Smyrna, Georgia. One of the top junior golfers in the state. Did I see you hitting balls on the range today? I did, didn't I? They had the go they had the inaugural golf tournament to support the golf team. And I and I I noticed you hitting, so I I I know I know now where that nice swing came from. In uh in 2025, he was named Junior State Champion after winning the GSGA Junior Tour Invitational, which is the official season finisher for junior junior golfers. He finished the 2025 season ranked number one in Georgia for boys 12 to 15 nine-hole division leading the state in every major performance category including highest point total, lowest lowest scoring differential, top overall performance ranking score and he had he participated in 13 competitive events which is one of the highest participation totals amongst all top ranked players. He earned the prestigious title of GSGA Junior Tour Player of the Year for his age division and secured five tournament victories in 2025, including his first ever competitive event win. He trains daily, sometimes more than two hours a day, under the guidance of Coach James. Uh he he's he's got a disciplined routine that

incorporates full swing development, short game precision, strength and mobility work, and mental preparation, which I know as a as a guy that tries to play golf sometimes, it's almost all mental and and uh hard to concentrate on. So that's not all he does academically, which we all know is the most important. He he maintains straight A's in honors classes, has been on the principal's list every single year, and is active in leadership and academic clubs, including Beta Club and Future Business Leaders of America. He aspires to earn a full college scholarship, major in business, and compete at the collegiate level. Though he's got excellence both exemplifies excellence both on and off the course, he's supported every day by his parents, Dr. Robert and Key Alexander and his sister L and Coach James and a close supportive community of friends and families. We are thrilled to have you here tonight and recognize you for your achievements. Give him a huge round of applause. [cheering] [applause] [cheering] [applause] [applause] Obby, anything you want to say? Um, got quite a fan club here. Thank you. Um, I'd like to thank my family, neighbors, and friends for always supporting me um through tournaments and practices. Um, my coach, Lenard James, he's always there. every single day I come out to practice, he's helped me for years now and has always supported me through all these years. Um, all of my friends, they've always been there since kindergarten. Um, they're always supporting me, motivating

me, and helping me to be a better person. And my grandparents, they um, they have set the path for me. Um, academically they've always helped me and they've also helped me to be a great person. Love that. Would you would you mind if I come down there and get a picture with you? It's okay to clap again for him. I saw it. Yeah. [cheering] [applause] I don't doubt it. I don't doubt it. Right here from Georgia. Come on over here. Yeah. Come on in here. This is awesome. I love it. Come on, coach. Come on. Get in here. Oh, yeah. You get Yeah. Come on. There's room. There's room. There's room. There's room. You better get in there, too. All right. [applause and cheering] Very good.

fun part of being in this role. That's that's a lot of fun. Congrats again. Uh we had to cancel our last council meeting. So it's been since October 20th that we met and we've had a lot going on. I was kind of taking notes. Um, some of the things since that time, we had our crafts and drafts festival, uh, college football Saturday, we had the Halloween spooky fest. Thank you to our, um, our first responders and police for keeping all of our neighborhoods safe during the the Halloween time. Um, we've had a couple of nonprofit events. The Support Smyrna golf tournament happened a week ago Friday, and we raised over $50,000 for the most vulnerable here, right here in our community. Uh Smyrna Public Safety Foundation had an event right here downtown. Um the council had a mini retreat uh here last Friday to all kind of get on the same page and do a six-month spot check on on where we are with all of our programs and projects. We had an awesome Veterans Day program. Um we had to move it inside because that was the day that it was so cold after being 70 on each side of that day. Um and then we had an election. Um, and we have a one tomorrow uh for state senate here in Smyrna and surrounding area. And I I want to ask, is there any candidate here who would like the opportunity to speak that's running for state senate? All right. I would encourage all of you to go out if you haven't voted early and vote tomorrow. Uh we will have a new state senator. Um probably not tomorrow. There's so many in the race. There'll probably be a runoff, but uh that election is tomorrow. Um so ton of ton of stuff going on. We have our uh coming home for the holidays uh where Santa lights the tree here in the downtown on December second, which is a Tuesday. That's

always a great scene down here. Um we've got choruses from the local schools singing on city hall steps and then everybody stays around for Santa to light the tree. So, I hope you hope to see you all here for that. That concludes my mayoral report. Um, we're going to move on now to proclamations and presentations. And we're going to start with item A. This is official recognition of the participants in the 2025 Smyrna Safe Business Program. And I'd like to invite Chief Marcos up here to talk a little bit about the program, what they had to do to be part of this, and then I'd like you to introduce the businesses that are part of this. And don't Yeah, you don't have to stay if if you don't want to, but um this is this is uh we're real proud of these businesses as well. Well, mayor, as a moment of privilege, I just Robbie, I need you on my team, man. I I support Smyrna Golf Tournament. I did not do very well, so I need you on my team. We got to talk after this. Okay. Hey, hey, hey, that's what I [laughter] Wait a minute. Wait a minute. We'll figure this out. We'll figure this out. No, thank you, mayor, for the opportunity to recognize some special businesses. uh back in 2019. I know you're familiar with this because you came to this fire. Largest fire we ever had in Smyrna lasted almost two weeks uh down SP Richards on the south end of our city. This was a major business within our city that ended up deciding to move out of the city and relocate after it had all the damage that it did. Not because it wasn't happy with the city of Smyrna. It just made a business decision. And from our perspective, we looked at that and we said, what can we do as a fire department to be proactive, not waiting for the businesses to call 911 when they need us, but to find ways to build resiliency around these businesses, especially on the cusp of COVID when so many businesses were going out. And so, I'm happy to say that this is one of the most unique uh programs that are not only just in the city of Smyrna, but it's actually in the southeast. We've had Alabama, other states in this in this region actually reach out and say, "How are y'all doing this?" And so what we've done is

partnered with Carl Vincent Institute of Georgia. We've brought them in with cyber security. We actually use DAT as also an adviser on that topic. We do workplace violence. We do CPR, AED training. uh we we cover a gambit of topics over six sessions where the the business owner or their delegate comes in and actually sits in these six sessions and is instructed by one of our own uh Lieutenant Evan Mcreer who is our EMA specialist. And so far the feedback we've gotten has been phenomenal. And so when they get done with this they do a tabletop exercise at the very end and put all this together so that they can be a resilient business in the city of Smyrna, which we know is the lifeblood of our community. And so with that, I'm honored uh to re recognize them as a Smyrna safe business. This is over 20 businesses that we've now designated as a Smyrna safe business. And so with that, I'd like to invite Evan Mcreer up or I'm sorry, let we've got one of the class representatives here. We'd like to say a few words. If I could get her to come up here, Dr. Sasha Tran with Alenia Chiropractic. If she could come up for just a minute. This thing's a little tall. Okay, so So, what I wanted to say was that I believe that the fire department, the Smyrna Fire Department really met their goal when they wanted to make sure that all these businesses are safe. Ever since being in this program, I feel more resilient when it comes to anything that happens. And of course, we don't have all the information or can go ahead and do everything right away. But because we've been through this, we don't have to rely so much on the people. is we are able to take care of ourselves before we can before we have to call, you know, to get help. And so because of this, I feel very safe and I actually feel like we're able to figure out what's going on and that we can go ahead and, you know,

making sure that we have our clients, our patients, our staff safe. So, thank you so much I'm uh honored to present the 2025 participants for the Smart Safe Business Program. First up is Dr. Ashley Lingor, Sports Chiropractic Institute. Next is Reggie Lee with B dance with Miss Reggie. [applause] Reggie, how's the new space working out downtown? I think the ice cream place really likes it that you're there, too. Not sure if she's here or not, but Lisa Lindsay with Fru Tea Bubble Cafe. represent. Very good. Represent. [applause] Victor Collins with Houndstown Atlanta. [applause] I believe also has a representative Bernard Brown with Joy Life Wellness. [applause]

Jalila Campbell with Fusion Studios Austin to Carter's Pharmacy [applause] and Dr. Sasha with Alia Chiropractic. [applause] And that's the 2025 participants of the Smart Safe Business Program. Great program, Chief. Thank you for spearheading that, bringing that to us. And let's keep getting businesses to sign up and get involved. Um, we have one more uh proclamation and presentation before we move into our regular agenda schedule and that's the Smyrna Art Council recognition for artist for the new exhibit in city hall in the community center. And I don't know if you've had an opportunity to see uh all the artwork here or down the hall in the community center, but just like just like youth and athletics, we've got

a lot of talented artists in our city. Um, and I I told some of them as I was meeting with them um over at the community center that we we finally figured out to how to get government out of the way and let y'all do what you do. And so you're starting to see out in the community, whether it's crosswalks or murals or just utility boxes being painted, all all kinds of public art is starting to sprout up in our community. And that's not going to stop. That's just going to continue and continue more and more. It's these people who are so talented that make that happen. So, I' I'd like to invite Pam. You want to come up and talk a little bit about um the the exhibit and what you're doing and then maybe introduce some of the artists. Yes. Okay. Hey, I'm Pamela Hayes Malov and I'm part of the board for the Smyrna Arts Council and so honored and this is Mel and um we are so honored to have 25 artists. Can Can we have our artists stand up who are here? Come on. Come on. Y'all come on up front. [applause] Our our exhibit uh which is going through February, right, is all abstract art. So, we have all different mediums. We have wood, we have paintings, we have collage, and everything in between. And just such an amazing group of artists. And so I just want to thank the council and Smyrna and and the artists for letting us uh show their work and support our local artists. Thank you all for sharing your talents with us. It looks awesome. Let's give them a round of applause. [applause] Oglesby runs the is the council representative on the with the arts and we're going to go down and get a picture. Okay.

Yeah, it's awesome. It really is. All right. [laughter] I don't know which one I'm looking at. Thank you all so much. Now, this is when we say you can stay for the rest of the but you don't have to. We're moving on now to um community development items. We have four this evening. Uh first one is item A. uh for temporary authorization for a temporary sales certificate for a Christmas tree lot on Pebble Pebble Brook Road. Um anything that you want to add, Mr. Jones? Community development take care of this? Pretty straightforward, I imagine. Yes, sir. Uh Rusty Martin, community development director. This is a request for a temporary sales certificate for a Christmas tree lot on Pebbleook Road. Um, if you guys remember about a month and a half ago, you approved the produce stand at this location. Obviously, the seasons are changing and your uh merchandise is changing. So, the request is that with Christmas tree lot. Any discussion? So, I know this is in um Councilman Oglesby's ward. Anybody want to talk about on

this? I'd like to make a motion to approve. Make this easy. Motion to approve by Mr. Oglesby. Second by Miss Hines. Everyone, please vote. Approve 70. We're off to a good start. Item B, this is a public hearing authorization for a new request pond broker license for Atlanta Title Pond LLC located at 2380 Cobb Parkway Southeast here in Smyrna. Mr. Jones, any background, please? Mayor, this is a new request for Atlanta Title Pond. The application was made for Palm Broker license located at 2380 Cobb Parkway here in Smyrna. Uh we've reviewed this application and staff has recommended denial of the application. U this this particular location where it's being applied for does not meet the location requirements in our ordinance section 2285. like to invite the applicant up now. Or is it Rusty? Did you have any presentation? Okay. Invite the applicant up. You'll introduce yourself. Be sworn in by our city attorney. My name is Autumn Mlen. This is Dan. Approval. Um does not very The code is ambiguous and not clear. It does not define how the path should be determined. So the survey that we have submitted is the path of travel which is what the survey company suggested and said that is used. So we're asking for it to be approved based on that. Any questions of the applicant?

So we when we went in to uh apply for this u we asked for how do you want this to be measured and the code does not say it just says 1,000 ft. Uh so we asked for a checklist. How would you like this to be measured? Is it a straight line? Is it a path of travel? Is it doortodoor? And there's nothing in the code that allows us to know what's the path. So when we went we had hired United Land Survey they've been doing business license in Smyrna of 30 years they created the survey for us and we were 1,55 ft from a title max. So we thought we were okay and I guess the community development came back and said no it's line of path and my only question was well why isn't that in the code line of path from door to door? Um, we are a Atlanta title pond. We've been in business for 15 years in Marietta. We service commercial customers. About 70% of our loans are for commercial people trying to make payroll. I don't compete that much against Title Max. Uh, we don't do low-end cars. We, like I said, 60% are people trying to make payroll. Uh, bring in, you know, dump trucks and work equipment. And we help the community for these 30-day loans. So, we're hoping you guys can overlook. I think I did get another survey and it was about 875 feet linear and we're,55 path of travel from a title max. So, we're hoping you guys would reconsider that. Thank you. Any discussion amongst council before we open up the public hearing? Public hearing. If there's anybody who wants to speak for or against this item, please come up and be sworn in by our city attorney.

All right, seeing none, we will close the public hearing and uh I will turn it over to Councilman Pickkins. Thank you, Mayor. Uh based on the distance requirement in the ordinance, I will make a motion to deny 7B LIC 2025-039. Councilman Pickicket has made a motion to deny. Is there a second for that motion? Second by Mr. Lindley. Motion in a second. Everyone, please vote. Heather, looks like we're having some difficulty on the All right, we'll take this vote by hand. All those in favor of the motion to deny will raise their That's a unanimous vote. 70. That application is denied. We'll move on now to item C. This is a public hearing zoning- 007 uh reszoning from O and I to MU conditional for mixeduse 250 multi-unit multif family unit development on Highlands Parkway. Mr. Jones, any background, please? Mayor, the applicant is requesting to be reszoned from O andi to MU conditional for mixeduse development with 250 multi- family units and additional 2500 square feet of retail. Uh the future land use for this area calls for it to be industrial and the land use change from mixed use is required uh which is the purpose of this zoning hearing. Uh the

planning and zoning commission has reviewed this and has voted to deny the request by vote of 70 at their August 11th meeting. Martin. Yes, sir. Uh, this request went to PNZ on Octo August 11th. Uh, it's been tabled subsequently since that date. Uh, you guys will hear tonight and make final uh, action on it. The subject property is located at uh, Highlands Parkway. Um, it's vacant track. It doesn't have an address. Um, but it's pretty much right across from Technology Court in uh, Highlands Parkway. It's a it's almost seven acres in size. Uh, currently the property is being used as overflow parking facility for the Fountain's office buil building. Um, the applicant is proposing a mixeduse development with 250 multifamily units um, at 38 units per acre and 2500 square ft of retail with in that uh building. The request is to go from OI office institutional to mixed use condition conditional. The zoning map reflects um OI zoning on either side of the property. Um on the east and west side and then across the street to the south there's office distribution, office and general commercial uh zoning. The city's future land use map has the property designated as industrial. Um, and with this request, it'll require a land use change to that map and change it from industrial to mixed use. Um, the adjoining uh properties to the north, east, south, and west are industrial. And then on the south side there's a

little bit of um community activity center. This is the subject uh site plan for the development. Um you'd enter off of uh Highlands Parkway uh pretty much uh right in between Fountain's development in this uh site and then there'll be a subsequent additional uh entrance to the west um in alignment with technology court with this development. Uh the setbacks they're looking at a front setback of 115 feet, a side setback of 95, and a rear setback of 40. Uh the multifamily building is proposed to be five stories in height, and then um have a four story split in it. Uh there'll be 250 units that will be 120 uh onebedroom units, 115 twobedroom and 15 threebedroom. And on the first floor there'll be the uh leasing office and and and retail area. And then um there'll be an amenity area, pool and courtyard. With this request, there'll be 377 parking spaces and then your access drive and storm water detention will be underground at the back of the property. And with this request, there are six variances that uh go along with it. Um and these variances are due to using the mixeduse uh zoning classification that uh that zoning classification requires the buildings to be pulled up to the street have pedestrianoriented

uh uh design and you know this is pushed off the street. So it's it's requiring several variances from the mixeduse zoning district. The first being um to increase the maximum front setback from uh 20 feet up to 115 feet. Um to allow an increase in the maximum side set back from 20 feet up to uh 95 ft and then allow an increase in the residential density from 25 units per acre up to 38 units per acre. Uh number four, to eliminate the requirement for that there be consistent building edge along public sidewalk. In number five, um to eliminate the requirement that the off off streetet uh surface parking shall be prohibited uh between the building and the adjacent street. And then number six um to allow more than 15% of the uh of the units to be rental units. Um typically when you're um giving variances, there's either a hardship or your your plan is meeting the future land use plan and you're there's slight uh design and development issues that you're trying to overcome. In this case, this doesn't meet the city's future um uh land use plan and you know in the in design is going against what is requested from the mixeduse standpoint. These are the proposed elevations of the building. The city's uh future land use map uh calls this out to be industrial land use. And as you can see on the right hand side of the screen, uh it lists the appropriate land uses that that are um appropriate for this uh land use designation and the corresponding zoning

districts. And as you can see, uh mixed use is not an appropriate uh zoning district in this. With respect to the land use analysis, Highlands Parkway is a corridor with many properties within the industrial land use designation and is a major industrial employment center for the city. Um the industrial land use designation is characterized by manufacturing distribution facilities and equipment that are often disruptive to uh residential properties. And we know this because we have conflicts with the existing industrial uses out there with the surrounding single family uh uh single family homes that abut these um uses. Uh modifying the land use category of one property from industrial to mixed use on Highlands Parkway would be inconsistent with the intent of the comprehensive plan and future land use map. This would be a mixeduse zoning dropped in the middle of an industrial classification that is surrounded by office and industrial uses. Um, next, the addition of 250 residential units on Highlands Parkway create conflicts with the existing industrial businesses and and associated heavy freight traffic that travel the corridor. And finally, the mixeduse um land use and zone zoning district is intended for pedestrianoriented developments within the designated activity centers. And obviously, this is a a suburban design where the building is pulled off the street and surrounded by surface parking. These are pictures of the subject property. Community Development is recommending denial the reszoning from OI to mixed use conditional and the land use change

from industrial to mixed use at zero Highlands Parkway for a mixeduse development with 250 hotel rooms and uh 2500 square feet of retail at a density of 38 units per acre. Um the PNZ board, they also recommended denial and they voted at 70. With respect to that, should the council uh believe that um approve this request, we'd make one recommendation that you guys um add three zoning stipulations and two of two of them are related to the the site plan submitted and the the elevation submitted. if you guys hold them to that if you decide to approve this. And number three, the applicant has profered two um stipulations related to providing five uh units at affordable rates, which is 80% of the area median income and that they'll fund the installation of a traffic signal at Highlands Parkway and Lakeidge Drive. So, if you guys choose to approve it, we'd recommend that you add these stipulations to go along with that to hold them to what they're proposing. So with that, I'll be happy to answer any questions for you. Questions or Rusty? Rusty. A lot of varian of mixed use. How come do you know why didn't use multif family category? Because they're providing a commercial use with it. So, um, our currently our commercial or our multifamily zoning districts don't have the ability to allow for retail and commercial uses. Mixed uses is about the only category that does that. On that last slide, I'm just thinking it was a mistake, but

Can you pull that last slide up again? Yeah, it's an error. Talking about where it says 250 hotel. Obviously, that is not We missed that. It's an error. Multi family. Be multi family units. Yep. Thank you. Any other questions for Rusty? Thank you. Like to invite the applicant up. Got good evening, Mr. Mayor, council members. I'm Kevin Moore here on behalf of the applicant, which with partners uh in this application for resoning. I'm also going to be joined uh tonight to give uh part of this presentation by Blake Brady and Bennett Sans specifically Blake Brady with both with Wood Partners uh who will provide additional details for your consideration. I'm going to introduce this application for your consideration uh and then they'll be providing the presentation to you as well about this project. uh you know first of all people you know I we very much would partners myself respect staff their professional opinion it's just in this instance we respectfully disagree u we believe that there are changing conditions and circumstances for this property uh in this area specifically which we think give grounds uh and supporting grounds for consideration by you for approval. The staff certainly wants to support its future land use plan and we understand that. Uh but this area when you look along Highlands Parkway,

it's an area that's developed actually as a very much a mixture of use. It's a mixeduse parkway. Highlands Parkway is it's zoned and used for office uses, extensive office uses. It's also has some industrial uses that are distribution and office industrial types of uses. But importantly, directly across Highlands Parkway, there's significant commercial, retail, and restaurant offerings and uses that are right there on Highlands Parkway. And there's also residential on Highlands Parkway there at Lakeidge. Exactly. Those uses are all on Highlands Parkway. That's a mix mixture of uses if I've ever seen one, along Highlands Parkway. Our proposal, we believe to reszone this seven acres uh is consistent though with that mixture of uses. It adds to the mixture that's already there. This area is not dominated by one particular use. It's dominated by the variety of uses that are along Highlands Parkway and therefore we believe this proposal by Wood Partners adds to doesn't take away and certainly is not inconsistent with that mixture. Moreover, as a community and as a region, from that perspective, it's undoubted unquestioned that there is a housing shortage and we need housing, especially in areas that are in close proximity to major employment centers like Highlands Parkway is a major employment center with the offices that are there and located. It's a great location given its proximity to South Cobb Drive and 285, its proximity to East West Connector through Highlands Parkway. That connectivity and that proximity again has an opportunity here to place housing in an area that can access those types of major roadways and short distance and can access those types of employment centers and the mixture of uses that are there. Again, this proposal is one that

yes, it does it's not consistent with the future land use plan. That's because we believe that the future land use plan hasn't caught up to what Highlands Parkway has become over the number of years that it has developed out. At this point, what I'd like to do though, so that you can have the details that you need from Wood Partners. Wood Partners. Again, this is a company and a developer that has built and developed very successful multif family projects in the city of Smyrna. Outstanding projects in the city. They're a welcome member, I know, of the city for what projects they have brought and I think it's important to hear from them and their perspective on what their vision is uh for this project specifically as well. So, I'm going to invite uh Blake Brady up to to give you that presentation as well. We're certainly all available to answer any questions that you may have and respect the request actually your approval of the application. How's it going? Uh my name is Blake Brady. I am with Wood Partners. Um really excited to be here tonight. Um I know we've had conversations uh with some of you along the way, so we're excited to uh to finally be here tonight. Um Kevin did a a good job of telling you guys why we love the location. Um, but I want to dive into a little bit more um of our history here in Smyrna. And I just want to make sure, can you see the package that I have on my screen, can anybody help? We have a a package that we prepared. Is there anybody that can put that on there? Yes, it's right here. Oh, there we go. I think everybody should see it now. Great. Um, so again, diving into that history, um, it really is important to stress the fact that Wood Partners has a strong history here in Smyrna. Uh, with

the developments of 400 Belmont, uh, and Sinant Jonquil. 400 Belmont was done in 2014. Uh, it's located at the intersection of Windy Hill Road and Atlanta Road. and then sink at jonquil which is at the intersection of spring road and Atlanta road and over the last eight months uh I brought up both of these developments in every conversation I've had as an intro to who we are and I've only heard positive feedback on each of these um both of these developments are at this point a decade a decade plus old um and they continue to be some of the best uh multif family developments in Smyrna I think that's a testament to the longlasting quality product um that we build, the type of developments that you want in your city. Um and as for any of the council members or community development members that have been here since we've built both of those, I think they can attest to the fact that Wood Partners builds great product. Um here's some pictures of of what these developments look like. Um and again, Chem did a great job of why we love this. To summarize, um if I pull up the location, we have office jobs to our right and our left, we have jobs all along Highlands Parkway. Um there's residential demand in this location. A thousand feet to our left, you have Highlands View Town Homes, thousands feet to our right, you have the West Hill town homes. People want to live here. Um as uh Kevin mentioned, you have great access to the state. Um, and the fourth point here, uh, you're about five minutes away from class A grocery stores and Publix and Sprouts. Um, who who wouldn't want to live in this location. As I move on, here's why I think uh,

Smyrna Council mayor uh, should love this development. First and foremost, uh the development aligns with Smyrna's 2040 comp plan. Maybe it doesn't align with the future land use map, but it definitely hits goal number three, which is to encourage uh the development of a range of housing choices in order to meet market demand and allow residents to remain in Smyrna across different life cycle stages. Uh policy 3.3 specifically says encouraging housing opportunities to enure uh that those who work within Smyrna have the option of living within the city. And again, we're projecting that a lot of our residents will uh be working along Highlands Parkway. This development checks those boxes. Um and as part of this, I know is brought up um in Rusty's uh presentation, but one of our profer conditions uh is setting aside five units um affordable units at 80% AMI. Um, and as a reminder to the group, our site is located within the Highlands Parkway Property Owners Association. And in order to move forward with this development, we needed the individual owners along this corridor uh to approve of our proposed use. And I'm happy to say that the businesses overwhelmingly support our development. Out of the 24 owners, we had 18 yes votes, which is just overwhelming support. Um, they want us to be here. Um, these businesses include the Home Depot Innovation Center, Engineered Solutions of Georgia, and Healey Brown, just to to name a few. And we have a an executed amendment that we included as part of this package. Um, and in

addition to that, the property owners association board recommended approval to the ownership and we went door to door to introduce ourselves to the local businesses here, tell them what we're intending to do, and we had a handful of signatures there as well. In addition to that, uh, I'd also like to point out, um, that there will be a significant property tax increase here. Um, as a vacant parcel, the total tax bill is right around uh with our proposed development, it'll be north of the 700,000. I'd also like to point out um why I think the Highlands View Town Home uh residents uh will appreciate our development, which brings me to our second profit condition, which is to pay for a traffic signal along Highlands Parkway and Lake Ridge Drive. Now, I want to make sure we're all on the same page here. This traffic signal will directly benefit the Highlands View Town Homes. It is right at this intersection where the circle is. Uh it'll benefit uh the properties along Lake Ridge and it will benefit uh the Highlands Grove offices across the street. Concerns, you know, over the last months have been brought up regarding this intersection. Uh and we're doing everything we can to demonstrate uh that we want to be good neighbors here uh and pay for this traffic signal. There's a few things uh I want to address headon uh before I open it up for any questions at the work session last Thursday. Uh I was asked um if we've addressed any of planning commission's comments and the answer is yes. Uh one thing that was brought up was noise along Highlands Parkway. And to address that, we'll be installing higher rated STC windows along that facade. Oh, and by the way, the front setback variance that we're requesting

um will help alleviate any of those noise concerns. And in addition to that, when looking at our front setback variance, uh this request aligns with the existing conditions along Highlands Parkway. Um it's more of a function of the zoning designation that we're targeting, but you'll see setbacks for most of these buildings and parking from the street. Uh another thing that's been brought up uh along the way has been potentially receiving complaints um from residents. And one of the great things about multif family development uh is that most concerns or complaints are handled internally. We have on-site property management. We have on-site maintenance. Uh and they are responsible for handling those concerns uh or complaints. So to summarize, uh this is sensible growth in a great location. Uh and with that, I'll open it up for any questions. Questions? Thank you very much for being here. Thank you. Um Mr. Moore as well. Um you have a lot of things that you would like for us to consider and um in considering them I have some questions if you could uh help with why should we ignore our future land use study. Um so with respect to what we're trying to develop here um I don't believe that industrial is something that specifically works here. If you look at this site plan, this will be much more um of a burdensome and a nuisance to the existing residents and the businesses in this specific area. Yes, maybe as you go further down Highlands Parkway, it makes more sense, but this here truly makes sense uh to redevelop as a a multif

family opportunity. When you speak of existing residents and you talked about the town home uh communities, have you spoken to those town home communities? Unfortunately, I have not. Um I tried um Councilman Olesby tried to reach out to them and set up a meeting with them. Um the community manager that runs that um property and asset unfortunately would not facilitate that meeting. U but we did try not facilitate it because they didn't like the idea of it. Uh correct. So as part of their um vote, the board that represents the town homes voted no on our development, but we didn't get a chance to actually speak to the residents and um candidly not not sure, but but the board is not in agreement. The board of the Highlands View Town Homes is not in agreement. Okay. And it it is worth pointing out that this traffic signal will directly benefit that property. to know that I understand about the traffic signal for that purpose of the town homes, but you're adding in that area is already zoned and somebody who knows a lot better, somebody like a Corki or whatever with all the industrial or whatever, it's already zone for office industrial. You've said that the office um partners around there are are okay with it, but they leave at like 5 o'lock. They leave. their their business is done. And so we have to be very careful, at least in my thought process, especially seeing about what we've already heard from some people who have who are living in an area that is heavily industrial around that area and and have issues with the noise and everything else um there. So, it's kind of concerning that people who live

around it and the town homes who are there are not in agreement with this coming there. And then to clarify. And one other thing just because this is the part that I I your developments are fantastic. Um the the developments are fantastic. It would be great to see this development maybe in an in a different area. Um I understand what you're trying to accomplish, but if we approve it and and and this is where you you help me. I don't know. If we approve it, it becomes an island in a sense because the rest of the area is still zone and oi. That would mean that we would if someone else came before us, we would have to do the same consideration and doing all these changes of variances and then the future um land use we would be ignoring for the whole area. It's almost like it's if we do this then it's a whole precedent of changing the whole plan. So can you tell me why we should do that? Yeah. So I I would make the argument that there is precedent for having residential here and that's proof of the Highlands View Town Homes and the West town homes. So this area does have residential Mr. W to Miss Hines I I understand your situation too, but we're I mean and we're facing another similar situation where we have residential properties against industrial and type properties. But in this case, we we would have a property. They're going to know what's on either side. I mean, it's established. And that would be my answer to it. Wilson. Thank you, Mayor. Um, so I have a couple

of questions. Um I think there's uh u in the documents 2500 square feet of retail. Correct. Um can you pull up the site plan again? Um sure. Okay. Thank you. And as far as where that um retail will be and will it also will the the uh the rental offices be at part of that space that 2500 square? No. So, if you look at the site plan here, there's a shaded SH section which is the leasing amenity and then a crosshatch section which says retail. Um, a little bit hard. I don't know if you see my cursor. That's where the retail will be. Um, the retail square footage is separate from the leasing and amenity space. Okay. Um, and again, you know, we're intending and envisioning this to be neighborhood focused retail. Um these are the coffee shop inspiration images that we would look to provide. Um you know it would be a very nice community amenity where people could come in grab a cup of coffee grab a bagel etc. Okay. Thank you. Um the other thing if we could look at the site plan and I uh I'm assuming there's going to be sidewalks within the the community and access to the sidewalk. It's on Highland Parkway. Yes, that's correct. There's a there's a crosswalk or a couple of crosswalks right in front of the leasing amenity uh that would take you to a sidewalk that would take you out to to Highlands Parkway. Okay. Thank you. Any other questions? Mr. Gold, thanks so much for your work effort to get to this point. Um, for the mixed use aspect, it really to me it looks like an apartment multif family

development and do you know what the minimum square footage of retail you need to qualify for mixed use? Off the top of my head, no, I do not. But most of us use applications that we've been developments we see here are really focused on retail that attracts visitors from the outside. Here to your point, the mix is really meant for generally be targeted for your residents, right? No, we we do believe that this is for the offices adjacent to us as well. Um Fountain Spark office when they come in to work um they can come in, grab a coffee, um grab a pastry, etc. Um you know, this is for everybody to use. Um so yes, we we intend for not just our residents but uh for the uh adjacent businesses and even for uh the existing residents. um along this corridor products are great by the city that yeah for mixed use I' much prefer to see more engaging retail commercial activity other questions for the applicant thank you say somebody else is coming up here too or no hearing um about anybody who wants to speak for or against this item to come up and be sworn in by our city attorney. Everybody come up together. All of y'all if you if you even think you're going to speak, come on up and get sworn in. You'll state your name and address for

the record. Yes. Uh my name is Kamit Main 6216 Amogi River Lane. Mapleton or Smyrna depending on who you ask, but how to speak into the microphone. Mapleton or Sperna depending on who you ask, but I live along the river. Um so I wasn't planning to speak on this but heard about it. I know that we our community has been in lots of conversations with many of you all around the industrial nature of where we live along Riverview Road. And so I did want to highlight that I believe me and some of my neighbors would be in support of some of the mixeduse retail things like coffee shop, restaurants. And so just wanted to make sure that our community and some of the conversations that we've been having with you all around our concern about the industrial use were not like part of the reasons why not to deny this because I do believe our community would be in support of something that brought, you know, more positive things like coffee and restaurants and things to the community. So just wanted to offer that. Good evening. Barrett Carter, 454 Oakbrook Drive. I uh wanted to come speak against this proposal and wanted to just put my thoughts down to try to respect your uh your time limit this evening. Uh good evening mayor and city council and staff. Thank you for the opportunity to speak against the proposed development. The proposed development does not fit. By review of the public record, the planning and zoning commission voted this down seven to nothing. City staff does not recommend the resoning and has denied or recommends against all six variances. The proposed development does not align with the city of Smyrna's comprehensive planned land use development designation. In the developer's original presentation, the planning and zoning on August 11th, they stated that goal three was to encourage the development of a range of housing choices in order to meet market demand and allow residents to remain in Smyrna. The example that was used was that they are people that work along Highlands Parkway that are leasing units in their Union City development, which

is a 45minute drive to work. Having been a resident of Cobb County for 32 years and city of Smyrna for 25 years, a 45 minute drive, while not desired, is not unheard of. However, I'm not sure that a small handful of 45minute commutes would justify this development. It simply does not fit. The developer has provided a school impact analysis that appears to have been created based on a review of Cobb County School District's enrollment study annual update from last year. However, it seems to state conclusions that do not match reality. While the analysis provides the under capacity numbers of Campbell Middle School and Campbell High School at 87% and 92% respectively, it did not provide the level of detail such as that for Nicadjac Elementary School. So, I looked it up. The study provided that Nicac is currently over capacity at 127% which is the highest overage in Cobb County's 64 elementary schools. It's outpacing the second place school by nearly 10%. That same report also states that in the past three years, more apartments have been built in Cobb County than single family residences. Cobb County is one of the fastest growing counties by percentage. And the Atlanta Regional Commission or ARC states that Cobb's population will hit 1 million by 2050. The Cobb County School Board adjusted that projection down by 86,000. Yet their own report states that the ARC is a very reliable agency and that this adjusted projection serves as an indicator that Cobb's population will quote continue to grow. I reached out to the principal of Nicac for her thoughts. I've not heard back from her yet. However, in fairness to her, I called her earlier today and she's not had much time to return my call. A new bus stop would likely need to be added, but the question is where? I've seen a handful

of bus stops in front of apartment complexes on major roads like South Cobb Drive. Adding a bus stop onto Highlands Parkway would surely present a safety concern, especially with the amount of freight traffic that that road currently receives and the amount of stoppage time and rush hour. Regarding safety, one of the development's entrances is across the street from a pizzeria and a cigar bar, both of which close at 2 am, seven days a week. Pedestrians will cross Highlands Parkway at 2 am. The developer has proposed paying for a traffic signal at Lake Ridge Drive. It is highly unlikely that a patron leaving an establishment at 2 am will walk 2,000 ft west to Lake Ridge Drive or 1,000 ft east to the Oakdale Drive crossing just to reach the crosswalk. They'll simply walk the 80 ft across Highlands Parkway at 2 a.m. The developer acknowledged that the speed on Highland Parkway is excessive and the speed on the road at 2 a.m. and pedestrians simply don't mix. Regarding area support, the developer stated that they've gone down Highlands Parkway and met with all businesses they could possibly meet with to gather support signatures for their intended development. There were 13 on the list as of the revision. Uh that's considerably more than 13 businesses on Highlands Parkway and I'd imagine that the low quality of signatures or quantity of signatures is likely parallel to the support. Regarding affordable housing, the developers August 21st Crawford Conditions letter to you all stated that they would provide five affordable units with rents set at 80% of AMI or area median income. According to HUD, 80% of that would be considered low income. Five units out of 250 is only 2%. That concession would not be enough to say that this proposed development should be one that addresses affordable housing. 2% does not even move the needle. Lastly, the May 7th traffic impact study stated that the impact of the proposed

development would be minimal. I welcome the author of that study to tell that to the people that drive on that road daily. I believe they would respectfully disagree. If for some reason this is approved, would the developer be willing to install a separate pedestrian activated flashing crossing as currently installed on South Cob Drive at Novvice Apartments? Would the developer consider an overhead crossing like the one at Glock just up Highlands Parkway? A proposed 395 bedroomedroom development housing 400 to 800 people dwarfs what Glock employs in Smyrna on Highlands Parkway. Would the developer consider what sort of precedence this would set in the area? And if the coffee shop fails, will there be restrictions on what sort of retail can go in a limited 2500 foot area when there's 395 bedrooms available? 395 units, pardon me, or excuse me, bedrooms available. In other words, as a member of the planning and zoning commission said, if it doesn't work, it doesn't work. To require this many variances just seems odd. In my opinion, this development just does not fit. The application for resoning should be denied. Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you all tonight. There anybody else who wants to speak for or against this item here tonight? close the public hearing and this is in ward seven. I'll turn it over to Councilman Oglesby. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I would like to make a motion to approve this development based off the recommendations by the staff if approved. Say that one more time. Mr. Obsby, I would like to make a recommendation to approve this development with the recommendations set forth today by the staff.

which includes the traffic sentinel, the low in the the low income home apartment complexes to name a few. As presented as presented. We have a motion to approve uh by Councilman Oglesme. Do we have a second? Second by Mr. Welch. Everyone, please vote. Just Mr. Pickkins is left now. So I think they bear with us just a moment. Having technical issues. All right, that is that motion fails. Five to two. Right. Move on now to item D. Oh yeah, that's true. That that has I do I have to have a

motion to deny that was that motion to approve was okay. All right. So asking me to ask for a Okay. So that so that failed. So I need a motion to deny that. Okay. So moved by Mr. Lindley. Second by Mr. Gold. Everyone, please vote. So the motion to deny is approved 5 to two. Now we'll move on to item D. This is a public hearing special land use permit to allow a modular office and storage container on Riverview Road. Mr. Jones, the background, please. Mayor Arowways has applied for a special land use permit that would allow a temporary modular office, a 6,000 gallon fuel tank in a storage container at 6310 Riverview Road. Admittedly, the way that this is presented is a bit confusing since the fuel tank in and of itself is not part of what the city would be approving. That approval would come directly from the state fire marshall's office, which has been granted. Um the property is currently zoned as heavy industrial and its existing business as a permitted use. Um with that the um the

recommendation from community development recommends approval request with four uh conditions and I will read those conditions all of which particularly pertain to the fuel storage tank. Um however again that approval is not part of your action. That approval has already been approved by the state fire marshal. Uh the module office fuel tank and storage container shall only be allowed for a period of 24 months after the date. If approved, the applicant requires the module office fuel tank and storage container for a longer period of time. Then the applicant must reapply for approval. Number two, the applicant shall install UL 2085 series fuel tank with a maximum capacity of 6,000 gallons. The UL 20 85 6000galon fuel tanks have a minimum separation of 5 foot from any structure and a minimum separation of 15 ft from any property line. And number four, the state and city fire marshall approval is required for the fuel tank prior to the issuance of the occupational tax certificate and as noted the state fire marshall has already deemed approval. Thank you Mr. Jones. Rusty, anything to add? No, you did a great job. Rusty's thunder, right? Um and here doesn't look like the applicant's here. Public hearing. I'd like to invite anybody who wants to speak for or against this item to come up and be sworn in. want to speak for or against this item. Everybody come up. You think you want to speak? Come on up.

If each of you when you come up was uh state your name and address for the record please. I'm Kami Jitain 6216 Amogi River Lane. Um, again, I'm it's a little unclear to me if there is anything related to the fuel storage that's being voted on here. And so, at the risk of is there I don't know if I'm allowed to ask question. That was approved by the state fire marshall. This is only um the council is acting on whether to allow a modular office and storage container. So, this does not have anything to do with the fuel. No. Okay. So, there's no action that this council is taking on the fuel storage. Okay. Well, then I I don't have comments. Obviously, if we were taking action on the fuel storage or the council wasn't making any decision, we would want the opportunity to provide those comments. And so, just wanted to put that in the record because my understanding is that the county has not and is not the city council taking any action as relates to the fuel storage. That's not an AR. I just want to make sure that is granted by the state. Okay, that's Rusty. Mayor, the applicant is here. He could not hear. Oh, okay. I I'll you know, I'm gonna invite the applicant up to speak and then we'll continue with the public hearing. Is that That's all right. And that Okay, come on up. Good evening, council. Name is Scott Roberts with Arrow Waste. Um the property that in question is owned heavy industrial. Uh we have listened to the recommendations from the state as well as the city as to what to do with our requests and we've uh either met or exceeded uh the requirements as well as we did did take some of the recommendations and add those on our

behalf with the state request. So other than that that's really all we got to say. Any questions of the applicant? Thank you. We'll continue with the public hearing. Hope you guys are doing well. Um I'm Kyle Wilson from 1704 Trout Lilly Place, Bernard, Georgia. Um, now that I do have a little bit more of an understanding, I don't know if I'm allowed to ask a question, but is the the modular office itself, is that going to be temporary as well, or is that going to be permanent? Rusty, you want to answer that? That will be a temporary use on the building on the site and they would have to come back. Yeah. from and we can clarify this with the applicant but the understanding is that this area is going to be redeveloped here eventually. Um we know the property owner is actively marketing the property for sale. Um so error waste understands that this is going to be a temporary use here in the meantime till the property gets redeveloped. So um the request is to have a temporary office that will be removed and taken off the site um when the property gets redeveloped at that point. Thank you guys. Have a good day. Good evening. I have a similar question to the gentleman who um just spoke. So it's also my understanding that everything in this area in terms of industrial use is temporary such as aerrow waste. So maybe you might be the

correct person to ask this. Do you have any idea when that's going to be turned over? I know myself and I think some of my other neighbors who spoke this was presented as it would be something that's happening along with all of the other changes that are happening in the area. Um but we continue to put things on for temporary use. So my question is how long is temporary? And that does seem like something that would be in the city's remitt unlike the fuel tanker. So is there somewhere that I can find that information or do we have any conversations that are happening around that? Yeah, the um the subject property um was I guess three years ago, Brand Properties made a resoning request for um the 20 acres that this just south of the Riverview landing development. Um mayor and council, I'm sorry, mayor and council approved that request for 300 and 5,000 square feet of commercial. However, um due to financing and underwriting and everything else with inflation, that project hasn't moved forward. That property is still zoned for that and entitled for it. Uh obviously, the the the property owner now has to find somebody else to do the project. So, in addition to that, we are updating ours comprehensive plan here by 2027 because it's our 10-year mandated update. And um now that we've annexed this area from legislatively from Cobb County into Simrna, we can plan for the improvements and get them on record and get short-term work program and then long range plans for improvements.

Anybody else who wanted to speak for against this? Come on. Uh, Mr. Mayor and Mr. Council or council. Uh, my name is James Mccay. I'm a resident along with many of my neighbors uh at the Riverview communities. Uh first off, I wanted to say uh thank you uh mayor and uh rec uh representative uh and everyone else. Uh what we have seen engaged is uh the city uh working to find uh help us find solutions and I am grateful and I know our community is grateful and I definitely appreciate um the time that everyone has spent doing so. Uh the first thing I'd like to enter enter into record is the last time that we were here discussing this during the zoning commission, there were questions specifically about the fuel tank. And I think that's what led myself and a lot of my neighbors to believe that this was a conversation that uh allowed for the fuel tank. And since we were asking questions specifically about if that was allowed or not during that meeting, I think that's led myself and a lot of my neighbors to believe that it was a continued part of the conversation. And I'd love to see where it's noted specifically and where it was discovered by the council that the um temporary uh container office and the uh fuel storage were separate because when we uh were told about the plan from the city council, uh we were specifically p told that yes, it was a fire permit, but the fire permit was to be considered by the council. And then when it was voted on, we then were told that it was up to this council to vote on the next step. So, we just learned a little bit of different information during the first meeting. And uh I know we might not be able to do so now, but I would like to put it in

the record. We'd like some clarification on uh what was said during that zoning commission and specifically the questions and how the fuel storage tanker was uh spoken about and presented to us as a community. Uh and then secondly, uh I'm going to go back on to my spiel, uh that many of you heard and unfortunately many of my neighbors have heard. Uh but I am uh a lifelong resident. Uh I uh remember being a very small child and driving on Riverview Road with my father and I remember him pulling off uh and stopping at the Chattahuchi River so we could find turtles and bring them home. That was a favorite pastime of mine. Uh I uh ran away from home, came back a few years ago with my beautiful wife and was thrilled to see what I had discovered on Riverview Road, so close to where I grew up and so close to what uh was Georgia and Smyrna and home to me. And uh in our last council meeting uh I feel like myself and my neighbors our concerns were dismissed with not understanding Riverview, not having done our due diligence of Riverview and not understanding the history of Riverview and council. I thought long and hard about that and I worried how could I not understand Riverview? I grew up off of Riverview. I I I I I I I wondered why if I hadn't done due diligence, why my wife and I had invested in our new home on Riverview without due diligence. And I thought about it and I thought about it and then what I realized is that I had an amazing group of neighbors. I had an amazing community that I had become a part of and all of us had done our research on Riverview and all of us had done our due diligence on Riverview and all of us

understood what Riverview was and that what I respectfully asked the council to is to understand that Riverview is not what it was 40 years ago. It was not what it is when I grabbed turtles. It is a community full of 162 homes. It's a community full of these people here. It is a community of new businesses, of small restaurants, of coffee shops, of breweries, of the number three barbecue restaurant in the country. So, I would hope Smyrna would hope to keep that posted versus we keep waste storage next to such things. And as I investigated more, it continued to concern me about my connection with the space and why while I understand zoning needs, I understand all of our legal aspects. My question is are our priorities as a city for residents and small business or private equity firms that own a waste? And then in this meeting, we've also spoken about how Aerow waste is clearly here temporary. They only want this temporary. We don't have to worry about it because in two years, we it's temporary. They they don't even want to be here. They're looking to move out is what we just heard this evening. None of my neighbors are looking to move out. None of the residents that I live with, uh, my wife and I, uh, no one that has bought a home and become a resident of Smyrna in a newly zoned residential space is planning to move away from the area. And I would very much like that to be considered in tonight's thought about the vote. Thank you. Thank you. Anybody else who wants to

speak for against this? I have to be sworn in by Mr. Cochran. I don't believe you were sworn in. I saw that letter. I saw Excuse me. I really can't see this. It's kind of small, but this is the Chattahuchi River Keeper. Oh, my name is Cody Hugley and I live at 1641 Flint Riverplace, Smyrna, Georgia 30126. So this is from the Chattahuchi Riverkeeper and it says, "Dear Mayor Derek Norton and Council, Chattahuchi Riverkeeper is a nonprofit environmental advocacy organization dedicated to protection and stewardship of the Chattahuchi River and watershed. CRQ CRK represents more than 10,000 members who use and enjoy the river system and depend on the Chattahucha River and it lakes as a source of drinking water, recreation and economic development. Chattahucha Riverkeeper main office is located at 6020 Riverview Road southeast a few hundred feet from Aerrow Waste, a solid waste transfer station. Arow Waste has applied for a special land use permit to allow a modular office building, 6,000galon fuel tank and storage container at 6310 Riverview Road Southeast. The property does not have sewer service. While the property that Arrow Waist occupies is zoned heavy industrial, the adjacent properties to the north, south, east, and west are zon mixed use and are large and largely residential. Over the

last 15 years, former industrial properties along the corridor have been converted to single family homes, town homes, and apartments. The Sorry, I'm trying to find it. is very small. The city and other partners are invested in parks, trails, and river access along Riverview Road, expanding industrial use at 6310 Riverview Road with a sewage storage for the modular office and additional fuel storage. Threat threatens the river with potential leaks and spills. We are excited about the changes of the Chattahucha River corridor in Smyrna and appreciate all the city is doing to create and maintain river access. We support our neighborhood on Riverview Road that is that opposed the special land use permit that expands to arrow waste property. And I just want to say um I oppose it myself. One reason is because driving down where the arrow waste is at. It's not even a fence over there. It's just like a little small gate. They keep the trash u trucks. I mean, it's trash, you know, sometime is not empty. A lot of animals. Um we have a lot more rodents in the area. Um a lot of times when I'm coming through there early in the morning around 6, 7 o'clock in the morning, it's still kind of dark. The trucks just run out in front of you. Um I feel like If you're going to live in a neighbor, I mean, if you're going to be a business in the neighborhood, you should at least try to keep the help keep the neighborhood clean. And I feel like where they're located at, it's a lot of trash. It is a waste company. Why not pick the trash up? So, I oppose of

it myself. That's all I have to say. Thanks. Anybody else? You You had your time. If there's somebody else that would like to speak, I'd love to have them uh take a moment. Okay. Uh, are we are we we're finished with the public hearing. I'll close the public hearing and then you can ask. Um, Russy, I just have a quick question. Um, and thank you for the residents who are who've come to speak because obviously those are some concerns I'd be concerned with. And just speaking also to uh the If there are issues with clean cleanliness of your area, being a good neighbor in the area would be to pick up little things like that help people a lot and being okay with businesses being in their area. Russy, what I'm trying to make sure I understand correctly is this. They're doing this special land use permit to do a temporary structure. If they decided they wanted to do a permanent structure, are they already able to do that under what they've currently um have gotten the zoning and everything for? Yes, ma'am. They just have to build it in accordance with the zoning laws and the setbacks and building height and all that. Okay. So, technically they can do it in a permanent structure, right? All right. I was just trying to make sure I understood. Thank you. Just to clarify, Wilson. Oh, okay. Thank you. Um, just to clarify that they can do that without coming to the council. Yes. Provided it meets zoning requirements and they don't need variance, they can do it without coming to

those that couldn't hear Miss Wilson as she asked if if they wanted to, they they could build without coming before council, without a vote, anything. They could build a permanent structure there versus a temporary. This is just for a temporary building that has to be reboted on by this council. Yes, the the building is already on site. They moved into the site, brought the um the fuel tank and then the building and the storage um ConX box. We identified it. We've issued a notice violation and this is the sort of the method to getting compliance at this point. So they have their business license. They're operating to clear up the code violation. We're here today trying to correct that. Any other discussion from council? All right. I'll entertain a motion. Mr. Mayor, thank you. Um, while I sympathize with the plight of the people that live adjacent to this property, um, we're not here to reszone this property or or anything else. And this property owner has a right to to use this property to its best use. So, with that, I make a motion to approve item 7DZ25-013. Motion to approve. Do I have a second? Second. Second by Mr. Gould. Everyone, please vote. Let's hope our voting systems work. Miss Wilkinson. We're going to have to take a look at

our voting system. Huh. That is approved 6 to one with Councilman Oglesby voting in the negative. All right, that completes our um community development items and we'll move on now to formal business. Thank you all for being here for the time earlier uh meeting with council. Um item 8A, this is authorization for on call services, low voltage, fiber optic security, access control, and AV systems. Uh Mr. Jones, any background, please? Uh, mayor, we sent out an RFQ and we had multiple vendors respond uh for the low voltage service and uh using the criteria, the selection criteria provided in an RFQ, this was narrowed down to uh two particular uh vendors to provide support. So, this agenda item is to um allow for net planner systems and uh access control and AV systems to be our on call for low voltage Thank you, Mr. Jones. Any questions or discussion? All right, I'll entertain a motion. Approval by Mr. Oglesby. Second by Mr. Pickkins. Beat you out just a little bit, Mr. Gold. All those in favor, please vote. That's approved. 70. Item B, authorization for recommendation to move the city workers compensation program to Bitco Insurance Companies for an annual premium of $488,749 and authorize the mayor to execute all related documents. Mr. Jones, anything else to add on background? Uh, Mr. Mayor, just add that uh the current firm Associated Claims Administrators been with the city for the past two years. Um even though our

claims have continued to decrease, there's a number of significant service issues with ACA. Uh just briefly, uh our total cost for this this uh service was a little over $700,000 last year. Uh the bid that we have for bid code is $488,749. Our recommendation is for approval. Thank you. Any discussion or questions from council? I'll entertain a motion. Passed by Mr. Pickkins. Do I have a second? Second by Mr. Lindley. Everyone, please vote. Approve 70. Item C. This is a public hearing um to approve an amendment to section 402 and 712 of the zoning ordinance uh relating to vape shops to define vape shops um elementary and secondary schools and principal product line. specify restrictions on vape shop locations. Mr. Jones, any background, please? Uh, mayor, the primary purpose of amending the section 402 and 4 712 of the of the zoning ordinance is to provide a permitted use for these vape shops in a zoning category and then provide some limitations on that use. And with that, the staff recommends approval of the amendment to these sections. So right now if I without this if I wanted to open up a vape shop in the city of Smyrna it falls under what zoning category? That's a good question for our community development director. Uh right now vape shops are not defined. So they just fall under general retail. So this allows us to put some restrictions on. Yes. So right now under general retail it fall under limited commercial neighborhood shopping oi. And with this request we're putting a definition under general commercial. to have a little more control. Yeah. So, we're limiting the number of properties that's allowed in. This would generally provide protections

or distances for the location of elementary and secondary schools businesses. Um, Miss Wilkinson, um, would that also include preschools or is it just It would include preschools as well. Any other questions or before we have our public hearing? All right, seeing none, if there's anybody who wants to speak for or against this item, please come up and be sworn in now. Seeing nobody, we will close the public hearing and I will entertain a motion on item C. I move approval by Mr. Lindley, second by Mr. Pickkins. Everyone, please vote. That's approved. 70. We're now moving on to item D. Obsby. Yes. Uh, Mr. Mayor, I like to recuse myself. One of those doors and we'll grab you when we're done with this item. Item D is approving an amendment. Smyrna ordinance is dealing with elected or appointed officials holding a license to sell alcoholic beverages. Mr. Jones, anything to add background related? Uh, yes, sir, Mr. Mayor. So, this is sort of an outdated provision of current section 6125 of the Smyrna code. Specifically, it prohibits elected or appointed officials from holding a license to sell alcoholic beverages or even having an interest in a business that retains that license. Uh this amendment will revise that ordinance that allow these officials to hold a license or have an interest in a business holding a license in certain circumstances provided they're publicly declared and they don't have uh any

official city interest regarding the actions for the license. Um staff recommends the approval um of the ordinance change. Thank you, Mr. Jones. Any questions or comments from councel? Right. I entertain a motion on item D. So move approval by Mr. Gould. Have a second. Second by Mr. Welch. Everyone please vote. That's approved 6 with Mr. Oglesby having recused himself. They went quick because they're they're eagerly anticipating roasting you on when you come before the council for you. All right. Item E, ordinance amending section 66 of the Smyrna code ordinances to add petty trespass to our code. Mr. Jones, background, please. Mr. Mayor, this uh comes to us from the Smyrna Police Department. Uh has to do with um a provision that would allow a citation to be issued uh by a police officer if the owner or management of a particular location is advised someone to leave the premises or if they remain on a premises after leaving. Presently, this would cause a warrant to have to be issued, an arrest to be made, and this would be adjudicated in state court. Issuing the citation allow this to be handled locally and instantly. Thank you, Mr. Jones. Any questions or comments from council or the police department has every tool in their toolbox to effectively protect us. So, I'll entertain a motion on item

E. Move approval by Mr. Oglesby, second by Mr. Lindley. Everyone, please vote. And that's approved 70. Few more items under formal business. Item F, I am particularly excited about authorization for the approval of an intergovernmental agreement with the Cobb County School District for lease of use of facilities at Campbell Middle School and authorize the mayor to sign and execute all related documents. Mr. Jones, I'm going to take the background on this one. Uh, and whatever I miss, you can you can fill in. Uh, this is something that that I'm been passionate about and I'm thankful to Scott Cochran for uh, working with the school district's legal team. Um, I have spent so much time out at Campbell Middle School for different sporting events, whether it's Friday night lights or soccer or or whatever it is over the last couple of years. And and I think anybody who's spent any time out there would agree that that it is um it it's been maintained in that the grass has been cut, but that facility, the old high school, um and the 13 or 14 acres over there is in is in need of some love. And so I I just met Superintendent Ragsdale out there one day, just asked him, would you just meet me, just you and I go out there and and lay eyes on this. and we wanted to talk about some um possibilities for a partnership that would allow the city to commit resources to make that a premier recreational facility for our residents. And he was very receptive. Uh his staff at the school board have been very easy to work with on this. And the result is this agreement which is which is a 50-year uh lease from the city of Smyrna uh well from the district for the city of Smyrna. And we we're going to begin, if this is passed tonight, uh putting some

pen to paper about what's possible over there. Uh some of the high level concepts uh that I'm thinking about and our staff has put forward include baseball fields, tennis courts, pickle ball courts, multi-use fields, an eight lane track, um adaptive an adapted field for special needs uh individuals in a adapted playground. I think this is um a huge opportunity for the city of Smyrna and I am enthusiastically supportive. What did I miss? Well, I walked it with you and I think it's fantastic. It provides for a joint use between the board of education property and providing additional recreation to the city. Uh for clarification, it's 15.26 acres uh at Campbell Middle School. The board of education will demo the existing football structure and um we will have preliminary plans for what could be uh located on that property by the end of the year. Did I do something wrong? I'm excited, too. I I don't know if anybody could tell. All right. Is there any uh commentary questions from council on this? No. Ricky Oglesby doesn't have anything to say about an eight lane to say if absolutely excited about this development. Uh I think it will bring so much uh new much needed uh recreational space for as we seen all our youth right athletes uh I believe a track is involved in this with eight lanes we know that's needed uh so we're excited uh absolutely excited to vote on this today. Thank you Mr. Mayor. Thank you Mr. be Mr. Gold. Uh just to echo similar comments, it's just, you know, there's not no other

land in the in the city of 15 acres that's uh that's suitable for this type of uh athletic uh complex Friday nights. Right now, you have flag football league, right? Thousand kids out, thousand people out there on the Friday night. It's just a wonderful piece of property. And thank Mr. Cochran, mayor, your leadership there to make this happen. Jones, did you have something else you wanted? I I just wanted to make sure that Councilman Oglesby knew that uh as we were walking the uh the site a couple of weeks ago, the mayor looked at me and specifically said, "Councilman Oglesby going to want eight lanes for a competition track." I do listen. I do listen. Anybody else have anything on this item? I'll entertain a motion. Oh, Miss Wilson, I was just going to ask because G mentioned uh flag football. Was that that what? Say that one more time. They are recreational co-ed. Yeah. And they go from age five or six all the way up through high school. It is if you haven't been over to Campbell Middle School on a on a Friday night. Um they just finished the championship um last Friday. But it is it is a true community event. thousand a thousand people are over there and I know because Laura just texted me that my son is watching this and I have to say that his team won the his age group championship and my little baseball player had three touchdowns that's more touchdowns than he had in his whole life in that one game and it was a lot of fun. So, so with that, I want to add that with the parks and recreation master plan that we did a few years ago. One of the needs that was identified was uh areas for girls sports in Sperna. So, that's why I was asking that and I'm happy to hear that. Thank you.

With that, I will entertain a motion. Move passed by Mr. Pickkins, second by Mr. Welch. All those in favor, please vote. excited to say that's passed 70. Thank you very much. Item G for approving amendments to the intergovernmental agreements. Uh this is utilities use at Rose Garden Hill School and Argo Road Park. This is amendment renewing the ex and and extending the existing terms of the agreement for five more years. Jones, anything to add? No, sir. Any questions or discussion from council? Finley, are you okay? All right, you gonna make it. I'll entertain a motion then on item G. Motion to approve from Miss Hines. Do I have a second? Second. Second by Miss Wilkinson. All those in favor, please vote. Mr. Gold approve 70. Item H, this is authorization for another exciting item tonight. Recommendation of award of RFP 26-00002 for the Talison Aquatic Center to Reeves Young LLC. Jones, the background, please. This is this is an exciting project coming to the city of Smyrna. Uh we sent out uh some requests for some bids. There were five firms that responded. We had five very very good quality firms. Um, one of those bids was rejected on its face. Uh, incidentally, it happened to be the highest of the of the five bids submitted. The other four bids were very tight. Um, Corey Engineering was retained to do the design. Uh, I think they did a fantastic design. We got uh,

very good bids. We had an engineers estimate of 18 million and the recommendation for Reeves Young, which is the uh, the the firm that Corey Engineering recommended as the lowest respons responsible and responsive bidder whose bids met the criteria set forth be awarded the contract in the amount of 16,228,52969 with a project to be completed uh on their schedule by the end of March of 2027. We have set a deadline for opening by the 1 of May 2027. You repeat that last part one more time. Completed by when and open by when? So, uh, the bid as set forth the contract allows them, they they provided an allowance for a schedule to be complete, substantially complete by March, end of March 2027. And our deadline for opening Tison Park Athletic or Aquatic Center is May of 2027. Thank you. I just want to make sure I heard that right. Any questions, comments from council? Really excited about this and I'm glad the bids came in like they did. That that means that the bid package was was effects were put out. Well, um if there's no discussion, I'll entertain a motion. Motion do pass by Mr. Lindley. Do I have a second? Mr. Pickkins beat you to Mr. Oglesby and seconded that. All in favor, please vote. That's approved. 70. Item I, approval of the dedication of Concord Linear Park. Dr. David Martin. This is the park right over by um Zoya, the old the old Wes. Um Lenley, anything you want to say on this?

Uh yeah, thanks, Mr. mayor and thanks to Richard Garland and the parks department for helping sort of shepherd this through. But uh in uh I guess late August uh Smyrna lost one of its pillars and David Martin uh who was active in many things, the Optimus Club uh his church and uh was known throughout Smyrna for beautifying Smyrna every day by picking up trash on thorough affairs throughout the city. Ironically, I would always see them on Concord Road. Um, so we thought it fittingly appropriate to name the park uh in his memory. Uh, we'll have a dedication and a monument sometime. Uh, it sounds like in early February, so we'll we'll be back and hopefully make that a big community event. That motion do pass. Thank you, Mr. Lindley. Second by Miss Hines. All in favor, please vote. Fitting tribute. And that's approved 70. And then the last item under formal business is item J, which we voted to add at the beginning of the meeting. This is approval to close King Street between Bank Street and Powder Spring Street indefinitely, effective November 21st, 205 between the hours of 3 p.m. Friday and 6 p.m. Sunday. allow pedestrian traffic during peak hours of use at the village green space. Really glad we're doing that. I think that the community I think we were well intentioned when we when we sunset it for daylight savings time but but didn't anticipate the weather or that it would be continue to be used that that space has been such a success. Any questions or can I do have a question and I know we talked about it in pre-consel but for the record what is the timeline on permanent ballards uh with the vote of the council tonight we'll move forward we have a ballard plan in place and we'll implement that

following tonight's meeting an update on when those be he's asking the question because of the the not so sightly orange and white barriers uh those will go away and we will have nice looking ballards that we Um, do I have a motion? So moved by Mr. Lindley, second by Mr. Welch. All those in favor, please vote. And that's approved. 70. Thank you. Uh, we'll now move. Is there drum roll? We'll move on to privilege, license, and show cause hearing. The new request, liquor, beer, and wine. You can start walking down there if you want to. Uh, Black Diamond Business Ventures doing business as the Indigo Room at 821 Concord Road Southeast Smyrna, Georgia 300080 with Ricky Null Oglesby Jr. as the agent. That's Noel, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. [laughter] Tell us about what you tell us about what you want to do. Yeah. Hey, thank you for this opportunity. Uh hopefully next month I'll be living out a 25-y year dream, which is to open a fullervice jazz restaurant here in the city of Smyrna in the city I love and call home. Uh we have a I have a wonderful staff. We're putting together a great part uh business partner here and he'll be able to introduce himself soon. We have an excellent executive chef who is from Jamaica, uh, grew up in New York City. Obviously, a lot of you know I'm from South Carolina, so our cuisine will be a mix of both. We'll have some Caribbean, some

geiga, uh, some soul food and some comfort food, too. So, we'll have a little bit of everything for everyone. Also, some live jazz and neo soul music. Some really good music. We'll feature a lot of artists, local artists here, giving them a platform uh uh especially our jazz artists. So, we're looking forward to that. Um want to introduce yourself? They know me. [laughter] Good afternoon, council. Uh my name is Justin Gillette. Um as you know, partners with Ricky um and this great venture that we feel would be great for the community. I'm bringing great music, great food, and a great uh community partnership. Um, I myself bring over 20 years of global FMB experience. Um, from from the front of the house, the back of the house, you name it. So, really want to bring a great business to this great community. So, everybody's clear on where we're talking about. It's a shopping center off Concord. Um, adjacent to Burger Crush. I guess that's the most that's that's the landmark. Yeah. Right there on that same side of the road. Mr. Lindley, this is in your ward. Yeah, Mr. mayor. It was originally the one of the first PO folks restaurants in in town. Um you've uh read and I understand taken the Could you recite what you learned please? Yes, I learned a lot. What was the opening date? Uh projected December 5th. Okay. Very good. Lord willing. Well, thank you for doing business in Smyrna. With that motion do pass. Have a motion do pass. Do I have any other before we before we have a second? Uh, I'd like to let some other council members ask questions. Uh, Mr. Welch, I have some questions. I told you we going to drill you. The first night I was on council, I had a license come before me and Susan Hyatt was a city clerk and she was very kind to hand me a cheat sheet. She said,

"Answer these, ask these three questions. Did you go through the licensing?" I'm sure you did. Do you know that the city council goes through I mean the city police goes through checks and and so forth and checks on our businesses upholding the licensing law. I just want to make sure you knew of all of those things. Congratulations. Look forward to eating that. Thank you. Look forward to taking care of you. Miss Wilkinson. So I have a question that uh the audience would probably like to know. all those people watching from home. Uh what uh what are your hours going to be? Right. So, uh we'll be open for lunch. So, we'll start at 11:30 a.m. Um so, and we will have some late hours on Friday and Saturday to 2:00 a.m. uh to unwind for the long week. Right. Sunday, we will be open for brunch. We'll start at 8:00 a.m. for brunch. Thank you. Uh, Ricky, congratulations, buddy. We know what you're in for. Good luck. Great. Hans, it's always great when we able to have a good uh restaurant uh location here in the city. So, thank you uh Councilman Oglesby for bringing that here. And I think reiterate we all look forward to coming there. Thank you. Jones, you don't get a vote, but is there anything you want to say? Hold on. Let me get my list out here. No, no. Congratulations. I know you'll be successful. We're looking forward to having you in the city. We have a motion on the floor. Do we have a second? Second by Miss Hines. All those in favor, please vote. Lucky I didn't call on Mr. Cochran. Vote by hand, please. All those in

favor? That's approved. 6. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Congratulations. Take your seat back up here. We got some other stuff we got to do. All right. The last thing on here is the consent agenda. M. Jones, can you go through the consent agenda for council approval? Yes, sir. Um, there are six items on the consent agenda. The first three are approval of minutes. approval of the October 16, 2025 committee, the whole minutes, approval of the October 20th pre-consil meeting minutes and approval of the October 20th mayor and council minutes. The fourth item is an authorization to renew the uh Georgia first responders PTSD program is required by House Bill 451 with an annual premium of $29,26. The fifth item is authorization to approve a subreient grant for the trust for public land for the HUD community project grant. This is the Riverland Smyrna Bridge and authorize the mayor to sign and execute those documents. We'll be working with the city of Atlanta. We we will have one side of the river and they will take the other. And the final item is an authorization to approve three reclassifications within the engineering department and one reclassification and one title change within the water and sewer department. We have a motion and we have a second. All those in favor, please vote. That's approved. 70. We're now to the citizen participation portion of the meeting. Uh I don't have anybody signed up for public comment. Is there anybody that wanted to say anything this evening? All right, we'll close that. We'll move on to ward and staff reports and start now with Glenn Pickkins.

Uh thank you, mayor. No report this evening. Miss Hines, just a reminder about the Smyrna Optimus pancake breakfast that'll be next Saturday. Uh thank you, Mr. Mayor. The uh third uh public engagement meeting tonight for the downtown redevelopment was held. Uh if you missed it, it will be the pre presentation is posted online now and I believe the recording will be posted online shortly. and happy Thanksgiving to everybody. Mr. Welch, Miss Wilkinson. Well, um, Council Member Welch just, um, stole my words. I was going to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving as well. Mr. Gold, two quick things, Mr. Mayor. First, uh, we have a neighborhood meeting in Forest Hills just to take a look at the plans for the Murder First Baptist Church development. That's tomorrow, Taylor Bronner Hall at 5:00 pm. And then secondly, again, tomorrow as Miss Corn mentioned earlier, um it is election day for Senate District 35. Please come out and vote. Mr. Oglesby. Yes, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. I have a couple of things. First, I want to recognize our W seven residents who today uh really show really great community engagement. things don't always go your your way, but being involved in the process, you know, I think that's awesome. We should continue to encourage that for all our residents here in the city of Smyrna. Uh, last but not least, I want to thank my colleagues and friends here on the council for allowing me to become a small business owner in the city that I love. Thank you. I yield back, Mr. Mayor. Again, Mr. Jones, anything that for us? Uh, let's see. I just had a note here. The city attorney wanted me to remind you all that Alabama lost to Oklahoma. Oh yeah. Yesterday.

You know, my note was similar lines that South Carolina gave up a 27 point lead. That was&m. But it it looked like the same game. Well, and and the stat that I saw was that since 2004, anybody with a 27point lead, there was no big it was it was zero and 268. Those that have been down 27 points. When do we renew the city in 268? When do we renew the city attorney's contract? Uh, right after the Auburn game. Okay. After the Auburn game, noted. Miss Heather, I move to adjourn the meeting, please. If there's nothing else to be brought before this body, we will say good evening from the Jonqual City and adjourn at 9:04.