Planning and Zoning Commission - Regular Meeting

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okay well Rusty hey Rusty joy we ready all right good evening and welcome uh to the Planning and Zoning meeting for the City of Smyrna today is February 10th 2025 it's 6m and this meeting is called to order for those of you joining us for the first time we'd act ask that you silence your mobile devices as I try to do myself yes um this meeting is conducted much like a council meeting as such each application will include a presentation from City staff followed by a question and answer session between staff and the board following staff's presentation we'll have an applicant present their case and answer any questions once all the questions have been satisfied uh we'll have an opportunity for anyone in attendance that would like to come forward and speak in favor of or opposition to the application we ask that you come forward one at a time state your name and address for the record sign the signin sheet at the podium and please direct all your comments to the board all right the first item on our agenda is z25 002 Mr STS the background please she pass good evening Joey stabs planner two

with Community Development this is zoning c25 d002 applicant is Robert harisen your recommendation tonight will go to Mayor and Council on March 17th the subject property is 1464 Spring Street 1.8 Acres the property currently has a church with accessory buildings and a single family home on it the applicant is requesting to change that zoning from R15 to Mu conditional to allow the church to stay there the single family home stay there and the accessory buildings be used for artist Studios future land use is moderate density residential this would require a future land use change to mixed juice um to the north above Spring Street is moderate density residential to the east is moderate density residential to the South is moderate density residential and uh to the West is um mixed juice basically this is the property this is single family home there the sanctuary and the two accessory buildings there's a stream buffer at the bottom of this property some pictures of the subject property and adjacent properties the staff is recommending approval of the resoning from R15 to mix juice conditional with the following conditions one would be conditioned to permit the following uses on the property um detached dwelling multif family Town House townhouse condomiums institutional

uses such as churches synagogue Sunday school and art galleries Studios for artists designers photographers musicians sculptur um ETC number two the following uses in section 72.2 will not be permitted that schools daycares uh non-commercial public recreation parks YMCAs and other social organizations retail sales hotels beauty shops coffee shops restaurants off street parking as a principal use uh utility related facilities temporary buildings of storage materials outside open markets on private or public property Banks and pharmacies Fitness facilities breweries and private dog bark those are all uses that are allowed and mixed use under this uh recommendation they would not be allowed number three the existing building shall be inspected by the fire marshall and brought to compliance with Ada and life safety requirements four the parking lot should be restriped and brought into compliance with ADA requirements if I've I the condition to this site plan so any modification to the site plan would require a zoning amendment by approval from mayor and Council I'll be happy to answer any questions any questions for Mr STS thank you Joey at this time we like to have the applicant come forward and tell us a little bit about the

plan than Robert Harrison 2889 Alexander Street uh to add to what Mr Saab said um I acquired the build the property last year and have several interests with the property as far as wanting to first of all preserve the buildings um preserve my next door neighbor uh I've been living next door to the church for 10 years I've been mowing their grass for about 7 and a half years uh fixing their steeple fixing their Plumbing fixing their hbac so I got to know them and I've been a member of the church for a little over a year now uh in the single family home uh a lady named Kathy lives there she's a member of the church probably the oldest member right now and so one of the goals was to preserve that house she had a place to live she has her granddaughter and great-grandchildren also living with her and doesn't really have any place to go so she will be remaining the resident of that house until she does not want to be a resident of that house and I'll be maintaining that house uh the existing congregation um is still meeting every Sunday in the sanctuary building and uh that's going to continue until once again until they decide that they don't no longer want to meet there was a new congregation meeting in the afternoon uh starting I think next week uh they've been meeting in the neighborhood at somebody's house and now they're going to have a place to worship on Sunday afternoons so the sanctuary building is going to be preserved as a church for as long as I can see that that's going to be going on for a long time and then the middle building was in pretty decent shape it's uh one-story building that was already divided into classroom spaces so my idea was to utilize that as artist studio spaces there's a uh significant need for artist studio spaces we've lost a lot of what we used to have even in Atlanta a lot of

the old Warehouse spaces have been bought up and renovated and artists are the first to get kicked out and so I think there's a need for that I already have I think four of the eight spaces reserved and I haven't really advertised it yet um the back building is not in great shape it's going to need uh full renovation and when I do renovate that that will be as Mr s mentioned that'll be brought up to current code fire safety and all that I've already met with the Fire Marshals they've already walked through the buildings uh I think they found the oldest inspected fire extinguisher in Smyrna last inspection was 1973 so I get that added to my list of uh achievements um and then in behind the building is a grassy area that you can see is divided up into small Lots but that area is going to be used as a community garden neighborhood Garden actually and we already have all 24 spaces reserved once again without even advertising it and that's it's all people from the neighborhood uh so that's a sign that people are eager to participate and shows that we need a space like this that the community can use um and then at the end of the street there uh it's just vacant land that I'll get to keep mowing for a while longer but maybe someday we'll come up with another use for that so I can stop mowing the grass every five days back there any questions for the applicant thank you Mr and got a couple of uh adjustments we just spoke briefly about the uh when it comes to the non-permitted uses uh I would like to modify uh number two uh section 72.2 where it says not allowed is schools providing adult training in any of the Arts um asking to modify that just so it says something uh in the effect of uh individual and small group classes on an intermittent basis shall be permitted and this would be such as a a pottery class on a Saturday or something like that uh or a painting

class uh any of the small group classes like that this is not an ongoing school but if one of the artists that's a resident in the studios wants to teach a class once in a while that I would like for that to be permitted and I've seen there's a need for that and then it also has something it's not retail sales but I would like to have uh have it allowed so the sales of items produced at the studios shall be permitted uh for like an Open Studios most art studios have an open Studios night in the spring or the fall and they just invite people in to see the studios and then they're usually selling some of their art from the studios during that event and so um I'm open to suggestions on that but just so that we can have a slight modification on that and then when it says uh the parking lot will be restriped uh I do have some repairs to do on the parking lot but this is not the best time of year for painting Outdoors uh that will happen as soon as the weather warms up and we get some some consistent weather so that I can paint that without it getting washed away or peeling back up again um but other than that I'm open to any questions do we need to make any changes guys to was was recommendation again uh it was on Section recommendation request action and under the uses that shall not be permitted uh number two right at the top it says College universities commercial schools schools providing adult training in any of the Arts and I would just request to modify that to allow for small group intermittent classes not a school specifically just to make sure that I'm in compliance with that yeah I mean we want to make that recommendation we can adjust it um what it goes me Council yeah

well I believe we're going to have to we're going to have to make our recommendation based on what's presented in front of us not edits that we're making on the Fly is that correct you guys are more than welcome to add stipulation to add those stipulations if the community wants to add something and you guys feel that that's appropriate um that can be added at this point and then it'll be carried forward to uh mayor and councel on you you want to take a minute and write something down I've got it right here you let us let us have it and we that way when the recommendation if however the recommendation goes if it is that they could actually read it is that all right all right anything else you want to add Robert okay all right this is a public hearing we'd like to ask if there's anyone in attendant i' like to come forward and speak in favor of or opposition to this come on up Mr Ward good evening and welcome thank you good evening thank you uh let me go Ward 1496 Spring Street uh it's about three houses down from the president's site and uh I want to first thank Robert for uh stepping up and putting himself at risk to do this this is an an unique uh opportunity for the city to add uh an interesting kind of uh outlet for people in the neighborhood come and enjoy and bring a different kind of vibe to the neighborhood rather than just simply five six eight more single family houses which will just add to congestion because it's a nice strip parking lot we're going to have with there's plenty of parking so uh I for one am all in favor of it I mean I know all of you have seen me from time to time and I asked Rusty when we were talking about it at Robert's house said I didn't want you to faint because I was actually in favor of something but I am uh certainly in favor of seeing this and it's very close to my house thank you so much for

the opportunity to be here thank you Mr Ward anybody else good evening and welcome hi good evening I'm Mary Carter uh 1610 Concord Meadows Drive I am an artist in Smyrna I've uh I perform in Atlanta and in smyna and as somebody who has performed in smyna and brought uh different musical acts into propaganda I really enjoy bringing people you know that that are think that Atlanta is the main hub for artists and bringing them into smna and seeing that there is a thriving Arts Community here and I think this gives us a lot more opportunity to um allow our community members who are already here to keep some of the art here instead of feeling that they have to go into the city for it so as an artist I think this is a wonderful idea thank you for your time come on up good evening and welcome Hey y my name is Matt Con 1439 Whitfield Street live in Williams Park which is the neighborhood where this church is located I'm the pastor of the church that is going to begin worshiping there in March in the evenings afternoons and a part of what was so exciting for me and for our congregation with regards to worshiping at the Old Spring Street Baptist Church was Robert's vision for everybody that he was going to be bringing in and what he was going to be doing there and so very speaking for it I apologize if that wasn't evident but speaking on behalf of him and for this because of the vision and because of the heart for smyna that he has and we we can foresee through our partnership and also just his big picture vision for the the space as well of they're becoming a a growing Community Hub that every city needs as many of as they can get you can't have

too many of those and so my hope is that this will become one of those and that you'll share that Vision with us thanks thank you and what's the name of your uh your church it's called Waterstone Church water stone always plug it if you get an opportunity we're yeah we're not about that but thanks you never know maybe there's somebody in the neighborhood that wants to worship with you all right any uh anybody else okay um any further comments up here forther discussion question the uh the only only question I have um and if I'm reading this correctly Joey Rusty feel free to correct me if I'm wrong the approval of the subject property for the MU conditional zoning District shall be conditioned to permit that is allow correct the following uses in section 72.2 dwelling detached attached multifam townhouse and condominium is that correct yes okay in 2019 Mr Ward you were also here that night and you were in favor of that night reverting the future land use from moderate density residential to uh or from mixed use to moderate density residential um do you have any concerns about putting this a mixed use classification on this with those uh permitted uses well forward given the trust that I have in Robert's ability to uh follow the plan that he has uh I don't really see that additional mixed juuse it's probably easier with a smaller number to be honest with you with a smaller number of uh uh condos is probably better for us than a lot of houses crammed in but that's you know I'm going to have to leave that to to Robert's discretion but

I don't really have any concerns about that as a because the zoning is limited as I read it it's limited to for well I think it's also conditioned in number three number five it's conditioned on the present site plan so that any any change in the condition any change in that condition would require an additional trip and we can deal with that as the time it comes back am I correct on that staff that's correct okay thank you Mr Warden all right any further discussion all right I'd like to entertain a motion and if you're going to have the motion do you want to add these stipulations to it I guess uh first I'd like to make a motion to uh amend the conditions according to the discussion we had here and the language that um our staff has right now and understanding of allowing that U extra activity a motion to approve motion to

approve that yeah okay do we have a second Miss o we got a second please vote we have five in favor favor opposed one opposed all right um good luck with your project that was this a motion to add the stipulations oh that was a motion to add the stipulations yeah so you need take a second action right V there you go all right I'll make a motion to approve uh item z252 uh as amended motion to approve as amended do we have a second miss all in favor approve 60 it's approved 6 Z all right the next item on our agenda is z253 this is public hearing to R zoning request to allow for mixed use to light industrial conditional 1.21 Acres landlock 492 is 2201 Dixie Avenue Gordon BR is the applicant Mr STS the background please yes sir this is rezoning z25 d003 again your recommendation will go to Mayor and Council on March 17th subject property is 2201 Dixie Avenue 1.2 Acres the existing use is an industrial use um The Proposal is to maintain that industrial use in 2019 this property was

reson mu conditional to keep the industrial use but also to allow residential um use on the property that building has gone away um the applicant is requesting some changes so we recommended to go back to light the future land use is industrial mixed use that'll remain it's surrounded by Cobb County um heavy industrial this is subject property I didn't label every structure on there there's some chimneys and other buildings on the property the storage building is a new building that is requiring this uh rezoning um the previous resoning condition it to a specific site plan since he's changing that site plan um this resoning would incorporate that and tie it to this site plan some pictures of the property staff is recommending approval um from mu to light industrial conditional with condition conditions that a building permit for the new structure is required um the previous resoning had rideway dedication we're just rolling that over on Davis and Dixie um three the structural inte Integrity of the existing structure shall be inspected by the fire marshal and building official if for that this approval will be tied to the S plan uh previously shown in this presentation I'll be happy any questions any questions Mr STS thank you

Joey at this time i' like to have the applicant come forward Mr Brans good evening and welcome F councel not excuse me not councel but committee board hey you Gordon BRS uh owner of the property at 22 2011 Dixie Avenue apologize my wife couldn't make it tonight but um just requesting the resoning of the property as Joy mentioned um to accommodate the additional structure okay any questions for the applicant okay thank you Mr Brans is there anyone in attendants that would like to speak in favor of or opposition to the application just can't have you hog in the podium while in case somebody wants to come up there they think you're going to smack them with the you know thank you geez dear God just kidding this is a public hearing we like to ask if there's anyone in favor of or opposition to this application please come now okay let the record show there are none um any further discussion any uh can I entertain a motion I'll make a motion to approve item z25-z35 agenda is the approval of the minutes from December 2nd 2024 Planning and Zoning meeting do I have uh a motion to

approve the minutes as presented Mr rice Mr Seagraves all in favor of the minutes as presented we have one abstain we have three four five with one five and one I think that still makes it work all right um Mr STS Mr Martin anything you guys want to add before we close out the meeting sir all right well I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that it's my Once Dead brother's birthday today it is a true story he's alive and well it's also civil sather and Gabriel Moore my nephew all three today how about that happy birthday all right with that this meeting's adjourned at 627 nobody will believe e