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County revises permitting process for overlays
Tuesday, March 25, 2008 3:49 PM EDT
Dunwoody Crier
DeKalb County is adding some checks and balances to the processing of land development and building permits in zoning overlay districts.
“There have been some gaps internally on how overlays are implemented,” Director of Planning and Development Patrick Ejike said in his presentation at the March 18 board of commissioners’ work session. Developers will not be able to take projects directly to the development division; they will need the planning department to sign off on the application first.
The checks and balances include: flagging overlay parcels in the Hansen computer system so applications involving them will generate a planning review; cross training planning staff and development staff; using a compliance checklist; and clearly defining the submittal process. Ejike said these changes would “stabilize and normalize the process” and would hold the staff accountable regarding the application reviews. The checks and balances do not apply to residential infill overlay districts (RIODs), according to Associate Director for Planning Andrew Baker.
In the new submittal process for projects in overlays, the district commissioner would be notified when a project inquiry is made to the planning division. The commissioner then seeks citizen input and is invited to the pre-application conference. Next the developer would submit to the planning division a conceptual plan for review for compliance with the overlay and then a final design. The planning director or his designee would sign off on the project before the Development Division could begin the land development permit process.
The associate director or his designee would have to sign off on issuance of the land development permit and later the building permit. If conflicts with the overlay requirements are found in either permit application, the project would go back to the pre-application conference, according to the flow chart presented at the work session.
Bill Draper, a member of the Brookhaven Peachtree Community Alliance involved in the Brookhaven Overlay, raised some questions about the new submittal process.
“Does the public get to see a site plan? How much time do we have to study the ‘inquiry?’ When are we informed of Ejike's decision? We have only 14 days to file appeals. What if Ejike ignores the commissioner and public input? Who challenges or stops the decision if the law is not enforced?”
“The new process is designed to keep the deal between the planning director and the developer,” Draper added.
“There is adequate public involvement,” Ejike told the commissioners, adding that citizens have input up front when the overlays are put together.
Ejike said there had been some missteps involving overlays. Recent objections to the permit issued for the construction of a Walgreens in Brookhaven were a factor in establishing the checks and balances, he said later.
Some Brookhaven residents and DeKalb Commissioners Jeff Rader and Kathy Gannon have asked the DeKalb Zoning Board of Appeals to rescind the land development permit because it ignores overlay requirements for front and side setback widths and allowances, building height, parking spaces, parking lots, driveways, curb cuts, transportation needs and landscaping.
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