Developers for the proposed Brookhaven/Oglethorpe MARTA transit-oriented development are asking the City Council to delay its Jan. 24 rezoning for another month.
Art Lomenick, president of Integral‘s Real Estate Development Division, a developer of the proposed project, sent an email to city officials Jan. 20 asking the council to delay the vote until Feb. 28, said City Spokesperson Ann Marie Quill.
Lomenick could not be immediately reached for comment. A MARTA spokesperson said they are not able to comment on their developers’ email. The City Council is under no obligation to postpone the vote.
“Brookhaven City Center Partners (BCCP) would like to request a postponement of our hearing at the January 24, 2017 City Council meeting until the February 28th 2017 City Council meeting to continue to work with council and staff on areas of the project still needing further clarification and discussion,” the email from Lomenick states. “We respectfully ask to be moved to the front of the agenda on January 24th to officially request the postponement. Thank you for your time and consideration.”
Integral and Transwestern Development Company make up Brookhaven City Center Partners, the developers hired by MARTA for the TOD.
The City Council is slated to vote Jan. 24 on the proposed development. A delay in the vote was already likely after the council decided at its Jan. 10 work session it wanted input from the Planning Commission on a proposed Design Review Board.
A deadline to have the Design Review Board in place before Jan. 24 vote will not be met because the Planning Commission does not meet until Feb. 1.
The proposed project has gone through several delays already, starting when Ernst asked MARTA last year to delay its rezoning request to the city from April to June so the city could meet with local and regional experts to address traffic issues.
The Planning Commission delayed its vote on the rezoning request in September until October when it eventually voted Oct. 5 after a three-hour meeting to recommend approval. The City Council then voted in October to delay its vote on MARTA for three months.
As part of the City Council October deferral, the council voiced their support for implementing a Design Review Board in response to residents’ concerns about how the MARTA development would look. A group of residents has continually showed up at City Hall to protest the development, arguing among other things the proposed project is too large for the area and would only increase traffic in the surrounding residential neighborhoods.