The Sandy Springs Planning Commission voted to recommend the approval of changing the “character area” of three parcels that include the Heritage building on Bluestone Road.
Character area planning focuses on the way an area looks and how it functions, instead of only existing land use, according to the Georgia Department of Community Affairs. The city’s website said that its Character Area Map is intended to implement the Comprehensive Plan and guide the Zoning Map.
The Planning Commission made the recommendation for the properties at 6110 Bluestone Road, 135 Hilderbrand Drive, and 51 Sandy Springs Place during its April 19 meeting. The properties would change from Recreation Area/Park Character Area to City Springs Character Area.
The properties include the Heritage building site off of Blue Stone Road, a small house around the corner on a site used as a temporary public safety maintenance facility on Hilderbrand Drive, and an overflow parking lot at the southeast corner of Sandy Springs Circle and Sandy Springs, according to the planning staff report.
“Be very clear that properties which host the Heritage Sandy Springs Payne House or Heritage Green Entertainment Lawn are not being considered for any changes,” Senior Planner Matthew Anspach said.
None of the three properties are park and conservation parcels from their physical standpoint but developed into service sites for commercial uses, he said. The privately owned sites in the surrounding vicinity have the City Springs character area designation. The proposed change would reinforce the existing and planned character envisioned in the NEXT comprehensive plan.
According to the city’s development code, the Parks District is intended for publicly-accessible parks and active or passive recreational facilities. The Conservation District is intended for land designated as permanent conservation, passive park or other open space. The City Springs Districts are intended to implement the Sandy Springs City Center Master Plan, which is formed around a nucleus of civic facilities.
Alan Panzar of Braemar Drive in Sandy Springs asked the Planning Commission to reconsider making the change. He said they should consider the existing designation wasn’t a mistake as the entire area is the namesake of Sandy Springs, which is why the city has that name.
Bruce Morris, a resident of the Bluestone Condominiums at 6105 Bluestone Road, said he was speaking for the 100 residents to ask that they are included in the decision-making process of any proposed development at these properties.
He said the owners support development around them but want to make sure that their quality of life is protected.
The Bluestone owners want to see development project plans to get a sense of what the character area change would mean. He said they want a clear description of the property’s use and a traffic study analyzing its effects. They want assurances that they will be protected against overdevelopment, unreasonable traffic conditions, noise level and reduction of green space.
Morris agreed with Panzar that the Parks and Conservation character area and zoning was not an accident or a mistake.
“It was a decision to preserve greenspace around the Sandy Springs. That green space is one of the major factors that attracted all of us to living in the Bluestone,” he said.
They already have difficulty exiting their property’s driveway and adding the Anne Frank in the World Exhibit and the Georgia Holocaust Memorial will make it impossible unless the building orientation changes, he said.
City Council voted to construct the museum at 6110 Bluestone Road in August 2022.
Planning Commission Chairman Reed Haggard said this is just one step toward any development of the properties. Any development would have to come before the commissioners and City Council.
Assistant City Manager Kristin Smith said she had met with Bluestone residents for an hour and a half last week.
“I hope that that helps this group better understand the intent of what we’re trying to do. And certainly is something that we will be happy to continue to do as we go throughout this process to make sure we continue engaging directly with them,” she said.
She said City Council will consider the character area change at its June 4 meeting because it expects to have a development partner up for consideration at the same time.
