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UPDATE: April 15, 2008
The second development in the Brookhaven Overlay has been blessed by the county with continued gaps in its attention to overlay requirements as with the first attempt. This time we have no hope of saving the legitimacy of the ordinance.
CORE is removing a condominium with six or eight units with eight townhouses at 3804 Peachtree Road at the entrance of Bellaire. Planning approved an illegal Peachtree curb cut at the same time they were revoking Walgreens’ permit for planning an illegal curb cut on Peachtree.
The developer was able to eliminate the overlay’s transitional buffer. The Zoning Board of Appeals saw no reason to maintain the overlay requirement, because the transitional buffer presented the developer with a hardship. It appears that almost any overlay requirement – except height – can be eliminated simply by filing a request for a variance.
Bellaire neighbors helped the developer eliminate the overlay’s transitional buffer so he could place a detention pond on the property without impacting his broad footprint townhouse plan. Others are working to help the developer eliminate the wider Peachtree sidewalks required by the overlay so they can plant trees instead.
CORE, with the help of some Bellaire neighbors, was also allowed to forego the county’s Tree Preservation Ordinance. The developer has a history of overbuilding townhomes, and this time used the relaxed overlay requirements to justify it. The overlay allows for more expansive building since it expect a higher density, pedestrian-friendly development, if the requirements are enforced properly.
CORE‘s site plan does not meet the basic 20% open space requirement, but it was not allowed to ask for a variance to eliminate it. It is not known how the Planning Department intends to deal with the major problrm, but the site plan is scheduled to now go before the Planning Commission in a Sketch Plat Review. The reson for this is unclear.
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