A taxpayer-funded economic study of Memorial Drive outside of Interstate 285 imposes major zoning changes that will affect the rights of property owners along and adjacent to the corridor.
Buried in the $174,500 study are what the POND consulting team calls "dramatic" changes to the land-use "character" areas that control DeKalb County zoning decisions.
The DeKalb County Board of Commissioners is being asked by the Department of Planning & Sustainability to immediately amend the county's Comprehensive Plan to adopt the changes detailed in the report. A vote is scheduled on Thursday, September 24.
On the next to last page of the report's "Executive Summary," and on page 31 of the 39-page "Action Plan" are maps detailing "specific changes to Character Areas in the Comprehensive Plan and zoning to align land use regulations" as described in the report.
Under DeKalb County's zoning code, these character areas determine what zoning districts and uses are permitted. Property owners and neighboring residential homeowners have not been individually notified of the plans to change the land use of parcels along Memorial Drive.
The District 4 Community Council, a citizen review panel whose members are appointed by county commissioners, expressed concern about these changes when it voted 7-3 at its August 18 meeting to recommend approval of the study "with the condition that nothing changes in land use or the zoning districts, everything stays the same."
While the Comprehensive Plan and its land-use maps govern all zoning decisions in DeKalb County, county officials have sought to downplay the land-use changes mandated in the report, leading one critic to call the Memorial Drive study a "Trojan horse."
Among the zoning land-use changes included in the report:
Memorial Drive near I-285
Memorial Dr. on the east side of I-285 is currently designated as a Commercial Redevelopment Corridor. The maximum density for dwelling units in this land-use category is 18 units per acre. The Memorial Drive study changes this area to Regional Center, which permits 120 units per acre and buildings of up to 12 stories.
The Regional Center area includes both sides of Memorial between I-285 and Indian Creek. It would also include all of the area between Memorial Dr. and Rockbridge Rd. from Indian Creek to I-285.
All of the area west of Indian Creek between Rockbridge Rd. and N. Decatur Rd. would change from Neighborhood Center to Town Center. Currently 24 residential units per acre are permitted. The change, which would affect a neighborhood of single-family homes, would mean 60 units per acre would be permitted.
Memorial Drive between Indian Creek and Rays Rd.
An area of Memorial Drive betwen Indian Creek and Rays Rd. would receive a Town Center designation, which allows for up to 60 dwelling units per acre. That's more than double the 24 units per acre permitted under the current Neighborhood Center land use.
Hairston and Memorial
The report also calls for a Town Center designation on both sides of Memorial Dr. on the eastern side of the intersection of Hairston Rd. This includes the shopping center with the closed Kroger on the north side of Memorial and the shopping center on the south side adjacent to the Kenilworth subdivision. Currently, these areas are designated Commercial Redevelopment Corridor, limited to 18 dwelling units per acre. The Town Center designation in the report would more than triple the permitted density to 60 units per acre.
At its zoning meeting on Thursday, September 24, DeKalb County's Board of Commissioners is scheduled to amend the county's Comprehensive Plan "by incorporating these specific policies and Future Development Map changes."
Under the county's zoning code, the Comprehensive Plan is "the official policy of the county concerning designated land uses and development types."
