During a two-hour Dunwoody Planning Commission meeting on Aug. 11, the panel gave the green light to two rezoning projects that will expand housing options in the city.
The commission voted unanimously to approve a rezoning request for a tract of land behind the North Atlanta Church of Christ that would allow for the construction of three homes within the city of Dunwoody and 21 in the area that encompasses Sandy Springs.
Currently, the land is zoned R-100, and would require a designation of R-60 to allow for the density that would permit the houses to be built on the Dunwoody side.
According to the application, the properties on Spalding Drive, which are in the City of Sandy Springs, were rezoned to allow a 21-lot subdivision on May 19 under the RD-9 designation (Residential Detached – 9,000 square feet minimum lot size).
The three homes, ranging in size from 3,500 to 4,500 square feet, will sit on a 10,910-square-foot lot, with one access point from Spalding Drive at the signalized intersection of Spalding Drive and Pitts Road. The starting price point would be around $800,000.
After nobody spoke either for or against the application, the panel voted unanimously to recommend the rezoning with two staff conditions – that the development of the site be substantially consistent with the site plan and that a pedestrian-only path be extended from the private drive servicing the subject properties to the adjacent parcel on Roberts Drive.
Townhomes on Ashford Dunwoody Road
The commission also voted unanimously to recommend approval of an application that would allow the construction of 33 townhomes on a 3.42-acre site at 4891 Ashford Dunwoody Road, the current site of LifeSouth Blood Bank.
The property is currently zoned Office-Industrial (O-I), which does not allow residential development. The application asks for a designation of Perimeter Center (PC-3)
The two townhome products are 20-by-44 and 14-by-40 feet, each with three bedrooms, a half-bath, and a rear-load two-car garage. In an earlier meeting, developers said a larger, 2,100-square-foot unit has an estimated price of $650,000. The smaller townhomes are about 1,500 square feet with an estimated $500,000 asking price.
Alex Brock with Smith Gambrell & Russell said the site is perfect for an owner-occupied residential product, which has not been available in the area for several years.
Nobody spoke either for or against the rezoning, and the council recommended it unanimously.
MJCCA indoor pickleball
The commission also approved a Special Land Use Permit (SLUP) to allow the addition of a 10,000-square-foot, four-court indoor facility at the Marcus Jewish Community Center near the existing courts.
An outdoor facility containing 12 courts opened in June 2024 as part of an extensive renovation on the 50-acre site that included the construction of an outdoor pool and other amenities.
At a community meeting that was held on the property on July 2, most attendees had a favorable response to the application, except for one person who stated her opposition to both the outdoor and indoor courts.
At the planning commission meeting, a resident living on Dunwoody Glen said she can hear pickleball noise from inside her house and said that the lights from the courts shine into her sunroom.
“All I hear is pickleball noises 14 hours a day on the weekdays and 12 hours a day on weekends,” she said.
Representatives from JCC said the addition of the indoor facility will help reduce noise, and that a fence with acoustic wrapping was installed within the last month.
Staff recommended several conditions, including that a 40-foot buffer of existing mature tree canopy be maintained and supplemented along the southern property adjacent to the properties on Dunwoody Glen, the installation of a fence screen, and an adjustment of operating hours.
The measure passed unanimously.
In other action, the commission:
- unanimously passed a Special Land Use Permit (SLUP) for a drive-thru medical clinic at a former bank site at Ashford Lane;
- deferred for 30 days a request by High Street Development, LLC to modify the zoning conditions for the property for Block 6 of the High Street development.
