Key points:
• Dunwoody City Council deferred discussions on the zoning change for 84 Perimeter Center again, despite previous delays in a 6-1 vote.
• The property has undergone multiple proposals over 15 years, including ideas for a hotel and mixed-use development.
• JSJ Perimeter LLC seeks an additional 30 days to finalize a purchase offer for the property, prompting council frustration.
A somewhat exasperated Dunwoody City Council again deferred discussing a zoning change and Special Land Permit Use request for a property on Ashford Dunwoody Road that has been in flux for more than 15 years.
The property, located at 84 Perimeter Center East, has been a chameleon over the past 15 years, first proposed as a hotel, followed by age-restricted apartments, owner-occupied condominiums, and then a mixed-use development with age-restricted apartments.
The latest deferral came at the Jan. 12 meeting, when owner representative Den Webb told the council that the company, JSJ Perimeter LLC, has received a tentative offer to buy the property.
“There is a one-page letter of intent that is being delivered, and we just need 30 days,” Webb said. “I’m just here asking for some grace.”
The council, including Mayor Lynn Deutsch, pushed back on the request, saying that the matter had been deferred several times already. Other council members commented that supporting documents for the latest plan, senior apartments, with a retail component, a drive-through restaurant (tentatively identified as Chicago-based Portillo’s), and a parking garage, are not complete.
“When you come back, we need you to be ready,” Deutsch said. She was the dissenting vote regarding the deferral.
Past history for 84 PCE
The project has already been a source of controversy, with city staff not recommending either the zoning or the SLUP.
“The general concept of a mixed-use development with limited surface parking, new open space, street-front dining and retail, with a residential or hotel component is consistent with the intent of the PC-2 zoning district, but the inclusion of a drive-through is problematic,” according to a staff memo.
However, at its Aug. 12 meeting, the Dunwoody Planning Commission recommended, despite the staff’s objections, rezoning and a SLUP to allow the 2.86-acre site to be redeveloped.
The council members decided to hold a public hearing as advertised, but the zoning request was not discussed. Nobody spoke either in favor or against the proposal.
In other action, DeKalb State Judge Ana Maria Martinez swore in three reelected council members, Catherine Lautenbacher, Rob Price, and Tom Lambert.
The council also:
• selected Lambert to serve as mayor pro tem;
• administered the oath of office to its newest police officer Jacorious Davis;
• presented live-saving medals of meritorious service to Lt. Curtis Clifton, officers Eddie Estes, Filipe Moreno, Katherine Thielman, and Sebastian Wright;
• approved a contract with GC&E Systems Group for security cameras at the Brook Run Maintenance facility.