The Rosebud Coalition

A three-person panel voted today to recommend that the city of Snellville deny an application to annex a two-acre tract at the corner of Rosebud and Brushy Fork Roads and rezone for a daycare center. Votes on both the annexation and rezoning were 2-to-1 with me as the county’s representative and a land use professional, Jerry Weitz, voting to deny and Dennis Lawton, the city’s representative, voting to approve.

The panel’s non-binding recommendation will be part of the evidence considered by the Snellville City Council when it conducts a final hearing and vote on January 28.

Weitz agreed with my position that a 12,500-square-foot daycare center designed to house 230 children was a commercial use that would be too intense for the area. In addition, Weitz disagreed with the property owner’s assessment that the tract had no viability as a residence, especially since the owner had made no attempt to market the property as such. The planner also agreed that approval would set a precedence for additional non-residential development at that corner and toward Hwy. 78.

A very strong piece of evidence in our favor was a September 2004 letter from the city’s Director of Planning and Development to her counterpart at the county in which the city expressed its opposition to the previous rezoning application for the same tract to allow construction of a convenience store and gas station. At that time, the city cited some of the same reasons for denial that I argued today (inappropriate use for area, precedence for other non-residential uses, etc.). Weitz noted the contradiction in the city’s position.

Because of the precedence that a rezoning will set, it is extremely important to the community that this proposal be denied. Because the City Council is not required to honor our recommendation, the community will need to forcefully express its position in early January.

Filed under: Growth & Development