News … Past News … June 2004

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Zoning 101
By Ken Wright, President, Dunwoody Homeowners Association, Inc.

Trying to explain Zoning and Land Use in a space of an article in the Crier is like trying to get a politician to answer a simple question with a simple answer. It just cannot be done.
Zoning and rezoning a piece of property is a long and complicated process that developers pay thousands of dollars to attorneys to navigate and complete. Land use, conditions, variances, plats, and appeals all mean nothing to most people until it impacts them directly. Unfortunately, by the time most of us actually see the signs and notices, it is too late.

VARIANCES

In many cases, the underlying zoning already is in place for a proposed development. Such was the case with the BP station at the corner of Mt. Vernon Road and Chamblee-Dunwoody Road. The current site and adjacent property (the Karate Studio) were already zoned for commercial use, and a new gas station was a PERMITTED USE for that property under the current Zoning Code. In addition, the Planning Department had recommended approval of the requested variance. So the question was not how do we block the gas station, but how to improve it and develop a station that the adjacent residential homeowners could live with.

Under the Dunwoody Village Overlay District, a new zoning ordinance in DeKalb County, there are strict developmental codes of design and architecture that must be followed. Also, to build the station that BP wanted, they would need variances from the development code. Without those variances, a gas station could and would still be built, but not the one that BP had envisioned. To gain those variances from the County, BP needed neighborhood support. Additional design criteria were added, as well as height limits, setbacks, lighting restrictions, landscape design and reduced hours of operation. Months of negotiations resulted in a gas station, while not the neighbor of choice, that the neighborhood could live with. The Ashworth Homeowners Association played the lead role in those discussions.

REZONING

You rezone a property when you want to change the permitted uses for that property. Increases in density for a residentially zoned area (R-100 to RA8), or changing commercial to office use (C-1 to O/I) are examples of a need to rezone a property. For the most part the majority of Dunwoody is residentially zoned. Over the last couple of years two of the last remaining residential properties along Mount Vernon were changed from R100 to O/IT (office transitional). The county and the developer agreed that the site of the BB&T Bank as well as the lots at the intersection of Mt. Vernon and Ashford-Dunwoody were no longer viable residential lots. The parties still were required to go through the rezoning process.

Countless hours of negotiations between DHA and the developers resulted in these rezonings being approved, but approved conditionally. Again; design, setbacks, lighting, entrance locations, landscaping and prohibited uses all became “conditions of zonings” on these properties. While we all may not agree on the need for another bank in Dunwoody, we will end up with a bank and an office building that are low intensity uses and designed to be better neighbors.

Even projects as large as the proposed “Super Target” on Ashford-Dunwoody Road must go through the rezoning and variance process. Target had to go through both. Each time this project, which already had County staff support as well as the Atlanta Regional Commission stamp of approval, was changed because of neighborhood and DHA participation and opposition.

It was clear that opposition to this project might delay but not prevent it from being built. The land was already zoned O/I, yet severely underdeveloped. Huge office buildings could have been built under the current zoning. The perimeter area is already a mix of office and commercial uses. Fighting this project would have been expensive and, based on past experiences and precedents in the area, futile. So DHA's goal was to seek conditions to rezoning and variance requests, and to end up with a project that would be more livable than originally proposed.

Concerns over school overcrowding resulted in reducing apartment units from 1200, as recommended by the ARC, to approximately 700 units, with almost half of them being owner occupied condominiums. More trees and wider sidewalks were added to make the area more pedestrian friendly. Density controls and building footprints were strictly regulated. Design standards and streetscapes were secured as well as signage and lighting restrictions. In the last few weeks major local papers ran articles on the final designs as examples of new development that focus heavily on pedestrian mobility and use. Every effort was made to make sure Perimeter did not become the commercial mess of North Point or Gwinett Place Mall. Only time will tell if they were enough.

The results of the efforts will be seen shortly. It is every property owner's right to seek a rezoning for their property, or to seek the “highest and best use” as the lawyers say. But that right is not unlimited. They cannot negatively impact the value of your property or endanger the community. It is not a right without limits. That is where active neighborhoods and neighborhood associations come into play. Knowledge of the codes and experience help us protect the community we live in. Change is going to happen and Dunwoody will continue to grow, but we can help control and direct that growth.

So the next time you see a rezoning sign pop up, don’t sit at home and complain about what was approved or what is being built. Instead, get involved because what we do does make a considerable difference. If you have ideas or know of a better way to negotiate these issues, let us know. If you wait till you read it in The Crier, or write to complain about it in a Letter to the Editor, you are too late. We all need to be involved in the future of our community.

The Dunwoody Homeowners Association brings good ideas, expertise, continuity and a strong voice for zoning issues. We need and appreciate your help.