City Council - Regular Meeting

I'd like to thank everyone for coming out today to participate in the Community Planning Information Meeting. Date scheduled June 11, 2026. Time of commencement 6.07. My name is Felicia Blair. I'm a planner here with the City of Stonecrest. Across from me, I have Deputy Director Ellis Steele and Community Divisional Director, I'm sorry, Shawana Cowie. And I have Kobe Brown in the back. The CPIM meeting is an informational meeting that allows staff and applicants to inform the public of upcoming developments and projects. The meeting also allows the citizens, business owners, and developers of Stonecrest Opportunities to review all petitions, ask questions of all applicants, and express any preliminary concerns. This is also an opportunity to bridge the relationships between developers, residents, and staff. The community planning information meeting occurs every second Thursday of each month Note that House Bill 1405 designates zoning and development office of local government appointed to exercise, delegate zoning powers, hearings and decisions on applications for special administrative permits as well. The meeting decorum, please be respectful to applicants, citizens and staff. Keep questions, comments and or concerns relevant to the agenda items. Please wait to ask questions after the applicant has concluded presenting their petition. Staff will ask each citizen or resident to approach the podium one at a time where you will be given a maximum of three minutes to ask your questions or to make a statement. Staff ask that you be mindful of others wishing to make remarks and therefore request your cooperation to be as brief as possible. The first item on the agenda tonight or the item on the agenda tonight is RZ26004, Brandon Arnold for Greenland Lithonia LLC located at 7224 and 7226 Maddox Road, Lithonia, Georgia 30058. A city initiative application request for the properties located at 7224 and 7226 Maddox Road for a rezoning and map amendment from M light industrial to M heavy industrial.

all right uh good evening everybody I appreciate everyone coming out here on a uh on a warm and muggy June evening I also want to thank as a preliminary note uh thank the stonecrest uh planning staff for their cooperation collaboration on this application also I think I saw Miss Thompson uh join the zoo meeting Council for stonecrest I also want to thank her for again her cooperation collaboration with this application thus far in the process Again, my name is Brandon Arnold, here on behalf of Greenland Lithonia LLC this evening. Greenland Lithonia owns 7224-7226 Maddox Road, which is the subject of this rezoning application filed by the City of Stonecrest. I'm here in a supporting role this evening. My goal tonight is simple, provide some context to the public on this application, answer some questions, provide some information about the property itself, and be transparent more than anything. Let me walk with you a little bit through with this application. If you could draw your attention to the PowerPoint that I have on the screen up in front of you, the city of stone crest initiated this rezoning application a few weeks ago, requesting that the city approve rezoning this property from the M1 light industrial classification to M2 heavy industrial and the property under sees this application. The purpose of this application is to bring the zoning in line with the established industrial character of the Northeast section of stone crest. Uh, that industrial character is reflected in both the current zoning map for the city of stone crest and the city's 2038 comprehensive plan. And tonight, the CPM, I am meeting as I know many of, you know, is the 1st step. Uh, 1st, public step in the zoning process opportunity for the public to get involved and ask questions about this application. A little bit about this property. 72247226 Maddox Road is a former quarry site. It's roughly 92 acres of adjoining parcels. It is a former quarry site. It's largely been unused for the past 20 years since those quarry operations ceased. It is a very large parcel of property. It equates to about 70 football fields or 23 city blocks. I want to point out to the group this evening that we're up in the northeast corner of Stonecrest, the industrial section of Maddox Road, far from any residential areas. And I have a quote here from the Stonecrest comprehensive plan that states this northern area of Stonecrest was heavily industrialized with the concentration of quarries and stone shipping operations. Today, the region remains vital for quarrying, warehousing, and logistics. And again, pointing out that this area of Stonecrest, the property is located, is roughly two miles from the nearest residential area. I have for you on the screen in front of you the standards for, excuse me, the factors for rezoning as set forth in the Stonecrest zoning ordinance. The first of which is the suitability for nearby uses. This property sits in an established industrial corridor boarded by light industrial zoning on three sides with a heavy industrial site about a half mile west. The proposed M2 rezone is consistent with the surrounding uses. Also, the property owner points out that the industrial uses on all sides and the nearest residential area is more than two miles away. There would be no adverse effect on residential areas. The Maddox Road corridor, as many of you know, was built for industrial traffic. The site runs on, the site itself, 7224, 7226 Maddox Road exists on an on-site septic system that would be reused, continue to be used by the property owner, not municipal sewer. The water use on the site would be limited. With no residential population in the area, there'd be no impact on local schools. Three more factors that we consider in the context of rezoning requests. First is environmental impact. and the property owner would contend that there would be no significant environmental impact created by this rezoning. The applicant, or excuse me, the property owner has provided an environmental site analysis to the city in the context, in conjunction with this application. addressing the wetlands floodplain stream slopes vegetation all that stuff the sensitive wooded areas would stay undisturbed if i go if i should go back to the map here this site as i mentioned was was previously operated as a quarry so you can see that it's already been cleared and the applicant has no plans to disturb any of the natural vegetation that's already on the site it would be used effectively as is The fifth factor that is considered in conjunction with a rezoning application is existing and changing conditions. As I mentioned, the site was formerly used as a quarry, and the M2 zoning classification provides the appropriate framework to return it to a productive use. This property has sat for approximately 30 years not being used. And I think during that time period, the, you know, Maddox Road has some issues that this development would help clean up. Finally, the last factor is whether or not there be an impact on historic or archaeological sites on the property. The applicant, excuse me, the property owner reviewed all the state DNR records and other databases that are available, found no recorded archaeological or historic resources on the property. So the property owner contends there'd be no impact, that factor. All right. So as to the proposed use, the specific uses of the property owner intends of this site are still kind of in the planning stage. They are going to be subject to special use applications that have been filed by the applicant. I expect to be here next month to discuss those specific uses in more detail. But what I can tell you tonight is that this is going to be a recycling site consistent with the M2 designation and the industrial character of Maddox Road. And also I can tell you this afternoon is that there will be no municipal solid waste except at this site. This is not a landfill. There'll be nothing permanently disposed on the site. Everything that comes in will be hauled out. There'll be no hazardous materials except at the site. And also this site, like any recycling operation, is subject to strict governmental permitting, oversight, compliance and inspections. Now, as for the benefits to the City of Stonecrest, generally, the property owner expects that dozens of jobs will be created, local jobs for Stonecrest residents. It would amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars in increased annual tax revenue to the City of Stonecrest, and over the course of the operation of the site, amount to millions of dollars in additional tax base to the City of Stonecrest. Also want to address some of the comments and concerns that we've heard thus far from City of Stonecrest as to potential pollution or noise. As I mentioned, this is an extremely large site. The recycling operations would be very isolated. In addition to that, we have a heavily wooded area surrounding the site. So those natural buffers would absorb any sound, any of activity that would be created by the recycling operation. As far as traffic goes, this is an isolated site in the northeastern corner of stone crest direct access to the I 20 corridor and so any industrial traffic was stay on the established industrial routes well away from any residential streets and well away from any main arterial streets. We've heard some concerns as to whether Stonecrest is being singled out for industrial activity. But again, I want to point out that the current plan and the future comprehensive plan for Stonecrest contemplates that this area of Stonecrest is designated for industrial use. As I mentioned, the benefits of Stonecrest are considerable. We think over the course of the operation of this project, it would generate millions of dollars of tax revenue for the city in addition to the local jobs that I mentioned. So for all those reasons, I know that the city and the property owner asked for the public support for this rezoning application. It would put, as I mentioned, a site that's been sitting vacant and idle for many years to use, strengthening the tax base, creating local jobs without any noticeable adverse impact to the community. That's all I have. Thank you.

Thank you, Attorney-Owner. Now we will take questions. Please step to the mic and state your name, please.

My name is Gerald Sanders. On my way to this meeting, a whole totally different process. But after listening to you, I noticed a few things that you said or were saying in your comments was incorrect. As far as no houses on that street, I stayed within a quarter mile of that quarry lot, okay? And there are four or five houses within 500 yards to my house. So there's five or six houses on up further the road. Within that two miles that you said wasn't no houses there, well, there are houses there. There are houses there. And as far as the noise and stuff you're talking about, we have been in Lithonia all our lives. Most of us have. And as far as keeping out the dust and noise, there's no way that you can do that. Not even the highway is not built to hold that much traffic. It's on a two-lane street. And most of this, it don't have a curb or shoulder. I had pictures that show it in one of the other comments, but they are potholes now, all up and down that street. They don't take care of the street with all those truck stops. and parking truck lots that they put on that street, they're the ones causing the problem. I mean, some of those potholes are over two feet deep, and they're stretching over halfway in the next lane. And it's a curvy road. There's no speed sign or anything. So they use that to drive at speeds. I don't have to make up this stuff now. From 35 to 50 miles per hour, 24 seven. Okay. And just a couple of big potholes that I would tell you about two feet deep, over three or four feet out in the highway, the incurred. So in order to miss the pothole, you got to drive on the sideline and ongoing traffic. Oh, but that street is not set up for heavy industrial use. So we can go on and on about this, but I've seen them come, and I've seen them go. And they always bring a big mess. And when they leave, they leave a big mess.

So you can take your rock query.

I mean, your ..

Thank you, Mr. Sanders.

Good evening, Brandon. Yes, ma'am. Okay.

I'm sorry, ma'am.

Could you please? Please? Brown. Thank you. video Stonecrest. I'm a I'm a homeowner and resident of Stonecrest. And I'm here tonight with serious concerns about rezoning requests on Maddox between the amount like on your road and SR 124. From, I guess, m one to m two. Let me start with the name attached to this request. Metro green. I did my research, and what I found needs to be put on the record tonight. The applicant, Metro Green, has a connection to Greenland LLC, the same company the City of Stonecrest just came out of litigation with. We fought for years, and now a connected entity is back at our table with a rezoning request. Let me be direct. We should not be doing business with any affiliate or subsidiary connected to a company we have already litigated against. This should not even be a consideration. It should not be made. It should have not made it through the door. The fact that this application is sitting before us tonight raises serious questions about our vetting process and who is mining the gate on behalf of stonecrest residents. Before this body moves and step forward the connection between metro green and Greenland llc. needs to be fully disclosed and fully examined. The residents of Stonecrest deserve to know exactly who they are dealing with. That is not a small thing. That is a threshold question. And frankly, it may be a disqualifying one. Now let's talk about what else is missing from this application. There is no statement of work. Have you mentioned now recycling? None? None. A medium industrial zoning carries significant implications of surrounding community, traffic noises, like the young gentleman mentioned, environmental impact, land use capability, and we are being asked to consider rezoning with no explanation of what this company actually intends to do with that land. This is not acceptable. A rezoning request without a statement of work is incomplete on its face. The planning department's preliminary review process exists precisely to catch these gaps before an application reaches a public meeting like tonight. I'm asking tonight, was that process followed? And if so, how did it get this far? Stonecrest residents have a right to know what is being built in their community. We have a right to know who is asking for it. We have a right to have our city government apply rigorous scrutiny, especially when the applicant has a documented connection to a company the city has already been in court with. i'm asking this body to require a complete application, including a full statement of work before this request advances any further i'm also asking. For full disclosure of all corporate affiliations between metro green and Greenland llc before any action is taken, this should not even be a consideration for doing business and stonecrest will stop, we are watching and we will continue to show up, thank you.

My name is Carlita Brown.

I'm a resident of Creekside, resident of Creekside, and we have residents here behind us. If you could raise your hand, please, Creekside, to show that we're here in solidarity. We're going to stand up for our community. And we do not agree, we strongly oppose, to putting anything that's going to be harmful to us, harm our kids, harm unborn babies, because there's plenty of women in our subdivision that are pregnant. And once those babies are born, we are left to care for them with all kinds of birth defects. And you mentioned the two mile radius. I did research myself and those smells can reach between one to three miles. We live 0.25 at Maddox in a new subdivision. We're highly educated in that subdivision. You got engineers, you got doctor, lawyers, blue collar, white collar. We're nurses right here. We're teachers, education. We're very strongly educated and we stick together. So we strongly oppose to anything coming near us. We already have enough on that exit and across from us. We bought there because of location, convenience, and for the family live in life environment. So like I said again, repeated and strongly opposed to anything like that coming in our community. I do understand this is a money-making business, but if Stonecrest need to bring anything, revamp them all. Think of other things to put in our community that's gonna build us. You mentioned jobs. Who would work for recycling? hate to say this, a lot of uneducated people, you may get people that have been incarcerated. Those are the people that have to have those type of jobs, because it's going to be harder for them to get a job in my office where I work. So those are the people that's going to be harmed, because they really need a job. And that's not fair to those persons either. So that's my point. That's my statement.

And I'm sure a lot of the people agree with me.

I strongly oppose.

Thank I have had the opportunity to live in Fulton County. I've had the opportunity to live in Gwinnett County, and I moved to Decatur. When I moved to Decatur, I was living off of Covington Highway. During that time, people were really trying to buy a house back in 2001, 2002, coming up. During that time, they said, the real estate agent talked She called me on the phone. She said, look, they got a real nice clinic out of Seneca Highway 124.

I said, OK. Oh, I'm sorry.

I have a big voice. So I went. I didn't know anything. I went. I looked. I said, this is what I want.

Then I went down.

I said, oh, yeah, this is what I want.

I've done what she asked me to do, everything.

Now, the problem that I have is, I always say 124 Seneca Highway, but it's Rock Chapel Road.

What do we have?

I have lived in, I'm just saying, I've lived in Gwinnett. When I lived in Gwinnett, on Seneca Highway, it was trees. Seneca Highway wasn't built up. Grayson wasn't built up. Latonia, not Latonia, Loganville, wasn't built up, okay? They had developers come in. When those developers came in, they took Scenic Highway, Scenic Highway leaving from here, going on, let's say Rock Chapel 124, going all the way back. When you get to Scenic Highway, going into Snailville, going into Lawrenceville, you see a big old sign saying Gwinnett County. You go further up, you see a big old sign saying, welcome to Snailville.

That whole area is built up.

Okay, when I'm going to work, I go different ways coming back to California. What do we have coming from Rock Chapel all the way here? Some people don't even shop at Stonecrest Mall. Stonecrest Mall, Stonecrest need to be built up. How is Stonecrest, how are we going to get people to come? How are we going to get shops to come? They just had a furniture store closed down. The furniture store closed down. I don't know money-wise, some of the shops at the left of Stonecrest Mall. When you go to the City of Latonia, they go sign there saying City of Latonia. Is it built up? No, it's not built up. You don't have anything there. You're not trying to bring anything there. When we leave Rock Chapel, I can go from Rock Bridge, okay? We have a public storage place that's been built. I think that's Rock Bridge.

Well, let me start at 124 Package Street.

Then we have the public storage. Come on down, we have a Chevron, we have some apartments built.

Then we have a church, got the name of the church.

We have a Rock Chapel Elementary. Right now, he's going to Rock Chapel, seeing a phase there, where the school is. Come on further down, we got another public storage. Come on further down, wherever that place is called. It's not being utilized at all. Okay, come on down. Dana took Latham Industrial Parkway. What do they have on Latham Industrial Parkway? Truck stops. That's what they have. Being across the street, we didn't even know.

Some of the neighbors put in, that's gonna be a truck stop.

Well, the building that they put in, where the truck stop is, right next to the truck stop, that building been abandoned for years. A lot of years. And coming on down, coming on down, some people are taking a residence that looks like some type of business because they're putting up those privacy fence. And once they pick up those fence right there on Rock Chapel, then coming further on down, the man on the corner of the racetrack he just started cleaning that place up that's right there on that corner he just started cleaning up it looked like some of the um the um houses he'd have made like a little residence there so coming on down what do you have inviting we want something inviting we want business we want food shops we want everything we want a community

that looks like coming up to me.

And a prime example is East Point, Georgia. I went to East Point over the weekend. When I went to East Point, if you know on Main Street where it's at, there is the MARTA station. Where the MARTA station is at, across the street, all that whole street from Main Street

What's going on there?

They did not have not one. They had restaurants, they had shoes. Then they had a regular, they had a regular shop where you could come in, you could buy tennis shoes. That whole area packed. What do you have inviting that you're gonna bring? Here, you all sit on these committees and I'm hot, I'm really hot because these people sit on these committees and I don't know if they appointed or elected Lorraine Jock, I remember her name. She's the Cal County Commissioner. We need to get people here that are gonna do their job and not just sit and draw the paycheck.

Thank you, Ms. Miller.

Not just sit and draw the paycheck. As I tell my parents, one of the things that I tell my parents, well, one of my parents got a house to have a family. I told her, I said, you do not need your child. Nothing wrong with the care family. You're the parent. You've got to be the one to put your foot down. You've got to be the one to sit down and do the homework, to do everything that you need to instill in that child and make that child want.

to make that child want an education.

We want nice things in our community. What we're gonna do?

Thank you, Miss Miller.

Stonecrest Mall, when it was opened up, people was coming from surrounding malls to shop at Stonecrest Mall, and that's no lie.

Miss, Miss Miller, thank you. While we appreciate your passion about the city and we do agree with some of the things that you said, we would like to give others opportunity to speak as well.

Attorney Thompson is going to provide a little bit of guidance as well, too, before you speak.

Good evening. Can you hear me?

Ma'am.

Can you hear me, Director Cowie?

Yes.

Okay, awesome. Good evening, Stonecrest, and thank you for coming out to the community planning information session this evening. I just wanted to address a question or statement that was made regarding the property owner here tonight. First, this is a city initiated rezoning. The city's posture in this matter is the petitioner or the party that is initiating the rezoning. The city is very aware and has full understanding of the applicants or should i say the property owners desire to rezone the property and we are moving that forward with them in support of the rezoning application i think it was stated that the city had has formally been in litigation with metro green llc and just to provide some context around that the city um and Metro Green LLC released a joint statement a few weeks ago. And I can read that statement that says the city of Stonecrest and Metro Green recycling are pleased to announce a negotiated settlement resolving their long running litigation. The settlement approved by the Stonecrest City Council on January 28th, 2026 brings to an end to ongoing litigation and establishes mutually agreed upon terms that safeguard the city's welfare while enabling Metro Green Recycling to relocate its operations to an appropriate location. This agreement is intended to address community concerns while ensuring compliance and applicable laws and regulations. Both parties worked closely with legal counsel throughout this process to reach a resolution that promotes accountability and stability. The settlement reflects a shared commitment to protecting the health, safety, and welfare of Stonecrest residents while respecting legal processes and Metro Green Recycling's private property interests. And that statement was released a few weeks ago, so that should kind of address the stage or the status of the litigation between Metro Green and the City of Stonecrest. The matter before you tonight is before you pursuant to the settlement and pursuant to the agreement that the City and Metro Green Recycling have come to. So again, we are fully aware of, or the city, should I say, is fully aware of the request on tonight and is initiating the rezoning in order to move forward with peaceful resolution of this matter. And Thank you.

Thank you, Attorney Thompson. I think there was additional for giving us that preface. There was another comment, ma'am.

Good evening. Good evening. My name is Cheryl Pinkney. I had something that I wrote, but I'm sorry. My name is Sherelle Pinkney. I had something that I wrote, but I'm just gonna just speak off the top of my head. My first home that I've purchased for me and my children as a single parent is at Creekside Village. Proud of it. My children are proud of it. I have two children, two out of three, that have asthma, severe asthma. I'm opposed to this because it's a struggle. I lost a job because I was taking care of my kids because of the complications with asthma. And this is with no facilities near our home. I'm also a child of a parent that worked 9-11. My mother has cancer because of what she went through with 9-11. My mother was a New York City police officer, proud of her job. She had got shot a month before 9-11 and went back to work with her hand in a sling because she got shot in her dominant hand. Because of the pollution and everything with 9-11, it's a multi-billion dollar Settlements and things that are going on with the city I don't want this for my community, this will keep my mom from seeing my children, because she still goes through complications from having her cancer diagnosis, my mother has she's lost almost 100 pounds and less than a year, because she can no longer eat. We have senior citizens in our neighborhood, children. We have first time home buyers or owners that are there. And we still have buyers that are coming to our neighborhood because it's beautiful. We don't have any crime. It's quiet. I'm fine with my kids going outside and I don't have to be worried. I don't want this worry here. And I also don't want any of our health to be at risk. Health and safety, that's going to be our number one priority in any neighborhood. I can speak for, I've lived in suburbia, Georgia, in Monroe. You don't see this in suburbia. You only see it where you have people of color. Why? Why put us at risk all the time? All the time. It's unnecessary. You don't have these issues where you live. You never will. Never. But we always have to sit here and fight and fight and fight for what? Equal opportunity? It's unfair. It's going to diminish our home values. I got my tax assessment. $60,000 less than what it was last year. I can't even afford to sell my house because of that, because I would lose. It actually assessed less than what I purchased my home for. And for you to propose something that can potentially leave me stuck in this home or try to figure out what my next move is going to be, I don't know if my next move would be my best move. It's unfortunately, it's unfortunate that we've come to this and we have to fight, but we're all going to stand here together. We have neighbors, friends and family that are going to stand with us. But just seeing what my mom has gone through, I don't want to see any of us go through this. I don't care where it is. A mile, three miles, whatever the radius is, it's less than a mile from our home. What are you doing to protect us? What are you doing to reassure us? It's sickening, it's disheartening. We already have to fight for the educational system that's here in DeKalb County for our children. We shouldn't have to fight for their health as well. I'll be okay. I know how to shake off a fever. My children don't. When my son is out there wheezing and he wants to play basketball, this could damper all of that for him. This could take that all away from him. My oldest son has had asthma since he was six months old and he'll be 13 this year. He fights through it all the time because he's passionate about sports in its own. You're just robbing children and all these families of their joy and their peace. I really hope that y'all reconsider this. I don't want to see anybody go through the fight that my mom has gone through. I've seen the best of times with my mom when my mom was able to do things with me. My mom fights every week to come see her grandchildren because she doesn't know if it's going to be the last time she sees them. Please, 9-11 wasn't something that was small. And neither is this, please, I beg you protect us, because this is not something that I take lightly, thank you.

Good evening, my name is Dave Marcus I have lived on rockland road for well since 1991. I don't have the right words for this brandon you're standing up there you're presenting I don't know why because you're not the one applying. The city is applying. It is the city that apparently has waited for this opportunity to tell us that they negotiated. That they made the deal with you and your client and your law firm to put this here. Why are we having this meeting, you said transparency miss cow we said it's to build relationships between developers and the Community. Our government, presumably said i'll give them the benefit of a doubt we're going to lose $30 million because metro green is winning this case, so what do we have to do to get you off our backs that's a lousy situation for the city to be in. But it's also allows you situation for the residents, especially the ones you've heard from from creek side, it is a lousy situation that once again something comes in on 124 that is going to look like pure. Something not going to use the right word. The city when they announced and. Thanks, Ms. Thompson, for actually telling us what was going on, because that was something some of us figured was going on. The city could have announced it three months ago or four months ago. The city could have had meetings to tell the residents what was going on. Instead, the city chose you to stand there, very intelligently not saying anything, and I admire your self-control. This goes back to our Council it honest to God, it may be the best decision they could have made I don't know what would have happened, how much insurance would have covered the 30 million what the number would have ended up being. In the end, I have no idea, but I will say this resolution sucks for us. And if there is any legal hole in that agreement, it will be explored. If there is anything that says the city cannot come before the city and request a zoning change that benefits a single person. Now, we heard a lie earlier. We heard you say, and I'm not saying you're lying, but the materials said the city is doing this basically for consistency in zoning and consistency with this and consistency with that. If that's the case, why the heck didn't they do it before you guys knocked on their door? That's because they are not doing it. Ms. Cowie, you are not doing it only for consistency. If you were, there are a heck of a lot of parcels that do not match the future land use and other plans of the city with the current zoning, and that's not your fault. not your fault at all and I do appreciate the job you do and I also personally like you let me just put that out there but this is bigger than you and excuse my language in Stonecrest this must stop

My name is Shandell St. John, and I live over at Creekside. I googled your address, and it's actually less than two miles, right? I think it's a shame what the city is doing, putting dollars over people's health. We all know that when recycling plants or whatever come in it's hazardous you have um you know fumes dust toxins that come into the city and for you guys to make such a decision and not put like the health of the residents um forward that's just very very shameful then we are moving this from a m1 zone into a m2 zoning correct M2 zoning means heavy industrial, right? That's what that means, right? It accommodates noisy or larger scale operations, right? That's what we are doing. Like you've mentioned, Brendan, that that your company is coming in here to clean up issues very vaguely. I don't know what issues that you're cleaning up. I don't know what hazards are going to be coming through the facility. I understand that you're taking precautions according to, I guess, standards and certain laws and stuff around it. there's still going to be hazards and toxins. You can't prevent it. And I feel like we are being dumped on. There is nothing productive in that area. I spend my money in Covington. I spend my money in Snellville. There is nothing out there. We do not need any more truck stops. We do not need any more factories that are going to put toxic waste out what we need are stores restaurants and so forth so we can live a productive lifestyle we're tired of our property values going down because you guys are putting money over people's livelihoods people's lives people health and i think that sucks And that's all that I have to say. And it seems like this decision, the mysterious voice that came over has already been made. So I don't even know why we're even having this meeting. It makes zero sense. But I hope that y'all can reconsider and think a little bit more about this.

Thank you, Miss St. John. According to legal, in reference to the decision, a decision has not been made. That is why we are required to go through the procedural process of a rezoning request. And a part of that rezoning request is a community planning information meeting where you provide the information to the resident. Just for clarity. Thank you.

Thank you for saying that the way the series voicemail is found.

Oh, I'm sorry.

My name is Piper Bunch, and I actually am part of the original group that fought against Metro Green and won. I lived across the street from the Stonecrest city line. So no matter what Stonecrest does, it affects Stone Mountain. It affects Lithonia. It affects everyone in South DeKalb. Metro Green got that permit illegally. illegally. That's how they were ushered in. So that's how this whole settlement came about because it came illegally. I've been on Maddox Road. So when you said there were no homes, I immediately knew that was a lie because I had been there and seen the homes. But not only are there homes on that street, My stepdaughter and her family live in Waters Edge. That's just about four miles away. My best friend lives in Greystone. That's three miles away. The concrete, when you crush concrete, It releases crystallized silica that not only exacerbates asthma, it will, if you breathe that concrete dust, it can cause COPD and lung cancer. That is a known fact. That is not conjecture. That's a known fact. For the residents at Creekside, our attorneys were SELC. You need to contact them. You need to contact Renee Cale back there, who is in Chase back there, because you can fight this and you can win. It took us six years, but they did not operate on that land. And you can do that because you cannot, in order, someone said that, I think the voice said that to do something appropriate. If it has to be rezoned, that means that that land was not intended for that and it should not be that. We don't want to breathe air with carcinogens in it. There's enough already floating around here. We don't need the additional, do you wanna live next door or near a concrete recycling plant where you're inhaling carcinogens, known carcinogens? The particulate matter can travel miles. It can travel miles. So that means Water's Edge, and I'm sure I've already told my daughter to make sure that Water's Edge Homeowners Association knows this. Because this stone crest, you have ignited something now that's going to affect Stone Mountain, Lithonia. Expect lawsuits for this if this goes through. Take it to somewhere else. If stone crest has to go bankrupt to pay for it to go somewhere else in another area, I don't care. Do it, because our lives matter more than your company, than your client, because they're now putting it where they live. They are fighting so hard to put this in a predominantly black community, and that says a lot. That says a lot. There's a thing called environmental racism, and it's right here. And if this city council and government and mayor came to an agreement in January to sell out another part of DeKalb County, that is so wrong. And there's some people that need to go. There's some people that should not be voted back in. We don't want this. I'm so proud of this room, of everyone who came out tonight, because once again, people thought they could sweep something under us and bring it in the back door. But now I watch, I don't even live in that area now, but I watch Stonecrest all the time, because I know what you'll do to people. I know what you'll do to black people. I know what you'll do to white people. You'll do to whoever you want to roll over in this community. But we're not going back. We're not going to have this. Be prepared for a fight. I don't know what Stonecrest told you that you could do, that Metro Green could come in and do, but that's not going to happen. You really want to get with SELC. And I have our attorney's name because you can fight this and win.

Yes, my name is Lorraine Gibson. I am a homeowner on Maddox Road, which I was born and raised there. My parents both have passed and I moved back there. I have called the city of Stonecrest so many times because when I moved back there, when I first moved back there, there was no trash on the street. Now, when I call the city of Stonecrest, I had to explain to them how street look like a dump. And what I was told was the city of Stonecrest does not have enough power to do it. I mean, from trash to RVs, anything you name, it's on our street, which makes no sense. 18 wheelers, dump truck, flying up and down the street. I had a stroke two years ago. My doctor said, why don't you walk up and down your street? I say, no, I cannot walk up and down my street. outside of the trash and smelling, you got dump truck, 18 wheelers. You got, my grandkids come over, have two small grandkids. I mean, two, two that's under two. They wanna play in my yard. So if you're talking about bringing this, they're not gonna be able to play in my yard. Cause both of them have asthma already. So I don't know, I've called City of Stonecrest so many times about the trash pickup. They'll come, they say they come, next day I'm still driving up and down the road, same trash is there, which does not make any sense. And like he was saying, there's no houses on Maddox Road, there's several houses on Maddox Road. So I don't know who even said that, who even would say that. Like I said, the house that I live in has been there 56 years. I was born and raised in that house. And when I call the city of stone Chris I say y'all can't even come out here and pick up the trash or clean the streets, which I want to raise taxes, every year, every year, ever since I moved and we switched the stone city of stone my taxes have double. Double. Double, but we need to talk about that too.

Hello, my name is Tantalea Banks. I stay on the corner of Maddox and Rogers Lake Road. My address is Rogers Lake Road. So y'all lucky tonight. Yeah, guess what? I owned a rock quarry. That's what I used to do. DeKalb County, that's who I contracted with. So for you to sit here and tell these people, it's so far back. Nothing's gonna bother you. I lost my husband in 2009 to lung cancer. Guess where he got it from? From the rock dust when they was out there mining out stones, okay? So don't sit here and tell me, well, anybody with common sense will know. Where you're saying that you're gonna put this and there's no houses on Maddox Road. At one point before all these people was here, it was a whole different group of people. I know one of them got caught stealing some COVID money or something. But I took a notice and I said, when y'all came out the first time, I said, if you want to move over here, buy these houses. It ain't that many houses out here. All that money y'all got, buy a few houses that's out here. Maddox down through Rogers Lake Road. Now we just had I'm out cutting my grass and all of a sudden I start choking. Guess what, Stone Mountain Lafayette Road, the log place, was smoking so bad, I had to call, I didn't know somebody had called the fire department. I'll call them back out there, because I was about to choke and die in the yard inside the house. So you telling me every time somebody comes, try to come into this neighborhood, they say, oh, this is not going to happen. Oh, that is not going to happen. Guess what? The recycling plant, right down the street from me, isn't caught on fire twice. twice i have grandkids yes i have one that has asthma so like she said i'm at the hospital at least twice out of every month at the emergency room going all the way back over on north side draft just so the children's hospital so when you say you coming over there the corner i stay on we call it deaf corner because you can't see when you come in front of my house, beside my house, you can't make a left. You lucky if you can make left, you try to ease out there. Then as soon as you make that left, they'll go mad as well, sit right there on the right. Okay, now I can say they cleaned up, but them potholes, like he said, is ridiculous. If you don't know the street, you don't know which way to dodge, you done told your front end or your right side of your car. So I'm going to tell you this. Every time I look up, y'all want to move something in. First, I was trying to be sneaky because I went up and down the road looking for one place. It was right across the street from me, but guess what the sign was at? In front of a concrete place. And I asked, do the concrete place have anything to do with these other people that's trying to put something out here? I never did get an answer when I came to city council meeting. But I want y'all to know when I pay my tax dollars, and like she said, my house was rolled over there because there was a Ford over there. In 1960, I bought my house at $14,000 at the auction. But they telling me my house was worth $177,000, y'all. I'm rich. I know good and darn well my house is not worth no $171,000. I don't think nothing has sold over there that's a house that's $171,000. I don't care if it was worth five nickels. It's my house. I don't want that over there. Y'all done put enough stuff. When I come out of my house, I look to the left, it's a junkyard. You look a little further down, they go to a trucking company, Brown Trucking Company. Okay, you look the other way in the front, nothing but raggedy trucks. You look to the left, which I'm surprised because I know the first 10 feet of the cab count belongs to Gap County. You ask me how all them cars sitting out there. When I pull out in my yard, I have to come out in my yard, not to my driveway. because I can't see. They got cards left and right. And I have talked to the code guy and he said he's fine. He don't own the property. The person that owns the property stays out of state. So y'all can find him till y'all get tired. But guess what? I still got to look at it every day. I'll call the fire department because they burn tires. Now we got the Mexicans behind us playing Mexican music till one o'clock. It's so loud, I could just get up and party myself in the front room. I mean, it's just ridiculous what y'all putting in our neighborhood. put something that we can use i need something for my my grandkids to go why i got to go all the way to stone mountain or why i got to go away somewhere else all this stuff all this land okay why you ain't putting nothing in the community for the kids i would like to go out to the bar and grill and have a drink myself i don't even drink but i'm saying that it would be nice for me to look and see i can go somewhere that's nice and decent and sit back and relax But I'm telling you, yes, I mined out from 89 all the way to 2008 for DeKalb County. So you're not gonna tell me that once y'all got the quarry and the dust isn't gonna go here or there, I know better. Because I'm a walking testimony, it will kill you. I don't have a husband now. You see what I'm saying? So I don't want it here. we don't want it here and yes we are a small community but guess what we stick together we gonna stick together we don't want we don't want y'all what's it gonna take for y'all to understand and then when i look across the street i see a big old gun y'all to put some grass on it but it still stank every now and then i mean we don't want that it's hard to stuff trucks raggedy trucks I mean, what is there on my corner? Nothing. There's nothing worth going to. Only place I still really go to is Wayfield and Family Dollar. And that's in the city, I think. I can't go nowhere else or do nothing else. So I'm asking city council, y'all need to stop. Do y'all stay over here? Do y'all children have to play over here? Yeah, we need to relook at voting some people in and vote some people out, because if you're not going to do what you say you're going to do, you don't need to be representing us. Thank you.

My name is Renee. I am representing myself and the citizens of Stonecrest, Citizens for a Health and Safe Environment. We are not surprised that. A deal was made, we knew it was metro green they think we don't pay attention, but we do. let's talk a little bit about metro green being over on Miller road Greenland was kind of hiding in the back, we already knew what was going on metro green has a plant in doraville. Not in the black neighborhood near the homes, they have one in Northwest Atlanta not in the black neighborhood near their homes, they have a landfill in carnesville near a blueberry farm they don't care. about us. So Metro Green wanting to rezone from M1 to M2. M2 brings intense industrial operations, chemical plants, cement plants. We have fought cement plants, asphalt plants, slaughterhouses. Developers come in here. This is their dumping ground, they think. We are not going to put up with it. And in this country now, you have a lot of people in power, they're violent. We will keep protecting our neighborhoods. Metro Green over on Miller Road with the trucks coming in, diesel exhaust has a complete mixture of gases. All those trucks you see on 124, they bring fires, they bring fine soot particles. contains over 40 cancer-causing substances, including benzene, formaldehyde, nitrogen oxides. The exposure is strongly linked to asthma, which a lot of our children are getting. It causes respiratory illness, worsened heart disease, particulate matter, which are so tiny you can't even see them. Diesel particulate, These old particulate matter carries toxic chemicals that enter the deepest part of your lungs. So if you have people with respiratory illnesses, Metro Green being over here is going to make it worse. And yes, when you start chopping trees, it affects and impacts wildlife, aquatic systems. Nightmare, Metro Green was. It was a nightmare for the people on Miller Road. They didn't give a hoot. We had our elderly lady over there when when that's a green built their facility her backyard is right from the young lady over there to metro greens dirt wall that they put miss Mary had to stop planting her flowers going to work in a garden and she's deceased almost two years ago and then another lady in that same area she just died month ago cancer. This is the thing. Leadership needs to protect and advocate for the people instead of sitting there talking about their posture. We don't really care about your posture. We will pull together to protect. And that's all we basically do. All we've been doing over the past six years is fight for our communities. And a lot of these developers don't even live here. Some of them don't even live in the country. But you come in here dumping, dumping, dumping. Yeah, we don't want you here.

Thank you.

I'm back again. Shandell St. John, Creekside. Can I do? Yeah. So I know you stated that this was like question and we can ask a question, right? So I had some, right? Has a full environmental impact assessment have been completed and will the public have access to it? I don't know if you can answer that now, or is that something that needs to be tabled and we come back to it?

So we submitted one to the city as a requirement of the rezoning application process. So I don't know about its availability, but an environmental site impact analysis was submitted as part of the application.

OK, we need to find out if the public can have access to that data. In addition to what emissions will the plant produce and how will they be monitored?

Like I mentioned, This meeting tonight is about the rezoning application. There will be a subsequent CPI meeting, CPIM meeting, excuse me, just like this one, at which the specific uses will be discussed in more detail. So I can give you, in other ways, I can give you more information on that at the next meeting.

It will be the Planning Commission meeting on July 7th. On July 7th. Yes. So has this already been approved and no decision has been made okay again as a part of the rezoning any rezoning or public hearing related to zoning request. The Community planning information meeting is state law that the applicants must present the information to the public for you to have that one on one dialogue okay yeah alright so i'm going to save all these good questions for that meeting at that point, then that's what I will do thank you.

Y'all wanted to be the city of Stonecrest, right?

The city of Stonecrest.

The previous mayor who was here, I think his last name, Jackson Lowry. Jason Lowry, thank you, thank you. He took some of Lithonia, stole all that little money. took some of this a lot don't you and made a stone Chris people haven't forgotten you hold your position. And since you hold your positions and I don't know how they come about and they appointed I just want to point that out. He took all that money and that's how we got to see this. I want to thank you what happened. I just want to throw that out there.

Thank you so much. Do we have any additional comments, feedback, questions?

The slops and other things you will be asking for, are they also part of the negotiated proposed settlement?

i'm not sure how to answer that we've submitted an application for those special use permits already to the city and, like I mentioned those applicants special use permit applications will be the subject of another meeting, just like this one.

Apparently, this rezoning which was applied for by the city, not by metro green. was basically part of the proposed settlement. I'm asking if any of the uses of the property, anything that would need a SLUP or a variance are also a part of that proposed settlement. And I'm aware that since it's proposed, no one is required through open records law to reveal it until it's final. But in the name of transparency and decency, I think everybody in this room would like to know at least the outline that settlement, so that we know what is in the future, we know what else the city will be doing or. metro green or any of the Greenland llc will be doing or attempting to do in stone crest is that reasonable.

Certainly, the applicants out here i'm not here tonight to play hide the ball and and I defer I think alicia's on the on the call she has a comment on that. As far as available to availability of the settlement agreement itself, but like I mentioned. The rezoning requests are here for tonight, especially use permits that will be subsequent at subsequent meetings are all public applications they're subject to public meetings.

Unless there's been an NDA signed. either party can release that agreement, whether miss Thompson recommends it does it doesn't do it recommends against it. Your client can release it and i'm asking that you do because apparently it takes four months or six months to find out about what's going on in stone crest that happens in executive sessions. even after they're moving along far enough to bring us all here tonight.

Well, I'm comfortable telling you there's no secret agreements. There's no nondisclosure agreements. And as far as the availability of the settlement agreement itself, I direct you to the city or its council.

Brandon, there is one secret agreement. It's called the settlement. It is secret.

Good evening again. Can everyone hear me? Yes, ma'am. Good evening. I just want to address, Mr. Marcus, your question. Just for clarification, the settlement has been reached and the parties have agreed to terms. The vote on that settlement It was January 28th of this year. So the settlement has been, it has concluded. And if you have any requests regarding records, please just direct them to the city's open records request portal and the responses, we can provide a response via that system regarding records.

I just wanted to say I asked when I first bought the property. How did y'all get all those companies next to the residential areas? So my house and my neighbor's house still residential. But across the street is commercial. Everything around me is still is commercial. So when y'all build this, by you trying to rezone, that's gonna mean that, is that meaning that the house is still residential? I know it's gonna open up a lot of doors for, ain't no telling what can move next door to me. You understand what I'm saying? Once you rezone and I'm residential and I'm looking at you right there by residential houses, What's gonna change? What's gonna say they can't put this next door to me? You understand what I'm saying? That's how we got in the mess we in now. That's how you got residential two houses and then seven businesses. I ain't figured that out yet. Because if you not supposed to build something next to residential, you have to be so many feet or whatever. What is this gonna open up? Once y'all rezone. If y'all happen, I don't think y'all going to rezone because we're going to work extra hard. But I'm just saying, if something like that happened to rezone, where does that put me as a homeowner? Does that mean now since you done rezone, he can put something next door to me that's really crazy because y'all went ahead and agreed to let him rezone? That's all I want to know.

My name is and I live on Madison Road. I've been there about 40 something years. Like that man come over there, said he was going to put something next door to me. He said he was going to build his mom a house there. She's 90 something years old, but he wanted to put something to build cars over there. And I said, no. So he said he went to the thing and got a permit. I told him, if you put something on my land, I'm going to sue you. Cause you don't have three zoning people to come out here and I didn't write. I don't think it right. Like you say, they put stuff on the road to pick it up two or three days to come back. Most of on this matter for right on holes and I like to say holding everything on management and nobody cares. Kobe black. Thank you.

Again, I have a question. What specific will, since it's already been rezoned and the settlement has already been reached, what exactly will be dumped there? What type of items or is it bodies or what type of chemicals?

To make that clarification, we're in the process. This is the first step in stage of a rezoning application. So there has been no decision made. The city has not agreed to rezone the property. We are just putting an application forth and it still has to go through every step of the process, including planning commission and before the city council. And there is the city council still has to deliberate on it like any other zoning application. So there is no There has been no decision made regarding whether this property will be rezoned. This is just the step in the process and there's no promise to have it rezoned. We just have to go through the process and City Council will ultimately have the final word on it.

And just to answer the second part of your question, I will be here at the next meeting to talk about the proposed uses in more detail, but I can tell you there's nothing being dumped on this property. Everything that comes in, whether it's landscape debris or lumber, goes out. There'll be no hazardous materials either.

Are there any... If you're gonna, can you speak from your seat? Do we have any additional questions?

My name is Cheryl Pinkney again.

Can you explain to me this, the matter that is proposed to go to this property?

Now, we all, we know basic science.

We learned this in elementary school, maybe middle school. Are these materials biodegradable we know biodegradable most of those biodegradable materials, you can eat those things. So that would be the only thing that would be a beneficial things to us because wildlife and just human life in its own so would these materials be biodegradable.

some of them yes and like i mentioned i'll be here um so what would what would the percentage be well we i don't have that information that hasn't been finalized but just to give an example um one proposed use that i'll be here to talk about next week is is landscape refuse recycling so it would be uh take for example a tree contractor who does a job cuts down trees pulls out bushes stuff like that it would come to the site get ground up into mulch and hauled off so i think there'll be some percentage of it that is

So when we revisit this, will you have the percentages?

I'll be here to discuss every use that's gonna be proposed for this site.

I don't think that's something that's, it's not a big ask because then it definitely would make us feel a little bit better. I feel like if you're gonna reuse this plot of land or wanna rezone, it should be 100% biodegradable. This way we know that these aren't any toxins for us. And now if it's concrete or granite that shattered at someone's home that they couldn't use for a countertop, we know that that's probably not something that we want in our community. But I think that's not a large ask if you can bring those percentages of what you deem as a good ratio for what would be biodegradable and what's not that would be placed on this property.

I'd be happy to talk about that more in the next meeting. And let me just say, any future use of this property is subject to strict regulation by the Georgia Department of National Resources, by the Georgia EPD. There's permits we have to obtain. There's renewals of that permit we have to obtain. There's regular inspections. And so it is not as if this rezone, if it were to go through, that we're allowed to just do anything and anything we want at that property. So we would be subject to strict state and federal requirements as to any future use of this property.

Well, I think we all can agree that state and federal is... Yeah, I'll do whatever the heck y'all want to do when it comes to... If we're not millionaires or billionaires, nobody cares. But one thing for sure is that we care about each other. It's unfortunate that we've come to here, especially since a settlement agreement has been made in January. We're six months in, six months that your company probably, or more, that your company has had planning. and just scoping out the next best thing. I know you're here to do a job, just like everyone here is on a panel. We're coming here, we're not getting paid a lucrative salary to speak our piece. You're doing a job, I understand, but I think that this is something that we should be privy to. So I do appreciate you all here this evening, thank you.

Thank you. Does anyone else have any additional questions or comments or feedback? If not, the planning and zoning staff will take any comments in the interim. Again, this rezoning request will be heard at the Planning Commission on July 7th. So if you have no more questions, we really appreciate you coming out tonight and be safe. Six o'clock in the same room. Thank you.