Public Hearing: YES ☒ NO ☐ Department: Planning & Sustainability
SUBJECT:
Title
COMMISSION DISTRICT(S): Commission District 03 Super District 07
Application of Venture South Investment, LLC c/o Battle Law, P.C. for a major modification of zoning conditions pursuant to CZ-20-1243619 in the C-2 (General Commercial) zoning district and Tier 2 of the I-20 Overlay District to allow for a grocery store with retail shops to access Glenhill Place, at 1816 Candler Road.
Body
PETITION NO: N3-2025-0286 CZ-25-1247427
PROPOSED USE: Grocery store with retail shops.
LOCATION: 1816 Candler Road, Decatur, Georgia 30032
PARCEL NO. : 15 170 13 030
INFO. CONTACT: John Reid, Sr. Planner
PHONE NUMBER: 404-371-2155
PURPOSE:
Application of Venture South Investment, LLC c/o Battle Law, P.C. for a major modification of zoning conditions pursuant to CZ-20-1243619 in the C-2 (General Commercial) zoning district and Tier 2 of the I-20 Overlay District to allow for a grocery store with retail shops to access Glenhill Place.
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommended Action
COMMUNITY COUNCIL: (April 2025) Approval with conditions.
PLANNING COMMISSION: (May 6, 2025) Approval with Conditions.
PLANNING STAFF: Approval with Conditions_rev. 05.12.2025
STAFF ANALYSIS: The applicant is seeking a major modification to zoning conditions pursuant to CZ-20-1243619 in the C-2 (General Commercial) zoning district to allow for a grocery store with retail shops to access Glenhill Place. There is also a companion case (Z-25-1247428) at the corner of Glenhill Place and Glenwood Road to allow that parcel to be rezoned to C-2 to match the C-2 zoning to the west so that the project can be developed under one zoning district. The property also falls within the I-20 Overlay District which allows grocery stores and retail as permitted uses. While the project contains seven properties, the property at 1816 Candler Road is the primary portion of the subject site. Site History: The most recent zoning conditions for the subject property were approved by the Board of Commissioners on January 28, 2020, to allow a mixed-use development of multi-family, retail, and office with the following conditions: 1. Must comply with the I-20 Overlay District with plans that show building setbacks, height of buildings and structures, density, density bonus (if applicable), required parking, open space calculations, transitional buffer zone and transitional height, elevations complying with architectural elevations and landscaping requirements. Variances may be obtained from appropriate regulatory authorities. 2. Access to and from Glenhill Place shall be prohibited. I-20 Overlay Purpose and Intent: The I-20 Overlay aims to encourage development and redevelopment of properties in the district in order to achieve a variety of mixed-use communities, as well as accomplish the following goals: 1. To promote physically attractive, environmentally safe and economically sound residential and non-residential developments and communities; 2. To provide for the development of sidewalks and walkways in order to promote safe and convenient pedestrian access, and to reduce dependence on automobiles and other motorized means of transportation; 3. To improve the visual appearance and increase property values within the Bouldercrest-Cedar Grove-Moreland community; and 4. To allow flexibility in development standards to encourage the design of innovative development projects that set high standards for landscaping, green space, urban design, and public amenities. Discussion of the project’s alignment with these goals continues below. Compatibility: The Applicant is seeking to remove Condition #2 to allow for the development of a grocery store with retail shops and indicates that without the access to Glenhill Place the project is not viable. In addition to Glenhill Place, the current plan provides for access from Candler Road and Glenwood Road. The Applicant indicates that access from Glenhill Place will allow for separation of truck delivery traffic along Glenhill Place and customer traffic from Candler and Glenwood Roads. The Applicant acknowledges that allowing truck delivery access along Glenhill Place will have adverse impacts on the residential properties to the east along Glenhill Place. Additionally, it appears that delivery trucks might have adverse impacts on the single-family residential properties at the terminus of Glenhill Place. The applicant indicates they are actively seeking to acquire all the residential properties along the north side of Glenhill Place and providing a 30- foot buffer and underground detention to provide protection to the single-family properties abutting the rear of the property. Additionally, there is an existing 6 to 8-foot-high wooden fence to provide additional buffering for the residential neighborhood behind the subject property. Transition of Adjacent Character Area: There are several single-family residential properties to the north (across Glenhill Place) that fall within a SUB Character area. That area is undergoing transition with active buyouts, and it may be appropriate in the future to extend the CRC (Commercial Redevelopment Corridor) Character Area along Glenwood Road and Candler Road to this three-acre SUB pocket along Glenhill Place. CRC Character Areas are intended to improve the function and aesthetic appeal of commercial corridors in the County and promote the redevelopment of commercial corridors in decline. With appropriate sidewalks and streetscaping, the potential redevelopment of this area could strongly contribute to the CRC goals for the redevelopment of under-utilized commercial corridors focused along Glenwood Drive. Opportunities for enhanced pedestrian activity and parking lot screening: General planning principles encourage commercial buildings to locate close to the street with parking/access to the rear and side, screened from public view. Furthermore, Section 5.7.7.J.1 (Outparcel development, nonresidential buildings) requires outparcel buildings to be aligned in order to define continuous street edges with well-defined entry points with spaces between buildings improved to provide landscaped pedestrian amenities such as plazas, seating areas, arcades, pedestrian connections. Finally, the CRC Character Area goals and strategies include “encouraging new developments to create new internal streets and smaller blocks”. Smaller commercial blocks, especially at street intersections, create a more human scale, pedestrian-oriented environment. Toward that end, Staff believes there are alternative designs to separate truck delivery traffic from customer traffic without having to access Glenhill Place (see attached two alternative designs and another grocery store project in the County at Arcadia/Church Street and Church Street/North Decatur Road intersection). Additionally, enhancing and increasing pedestrian traffic is vitally important as there is a bus stop at the corner of Glenwood Road and Candler Road which is part of the Candler Road Arterial Rapid Transit (ART) plan. The Candler Road ART project is an implementation of DeKalb County’s goals that were established in the 2019 DeKalb Transit Master Plan. The DeKalb County Transit Master Plan addressed mobility challenges, enhancements of future development opportunities, and the necessity for qualify of life improvements within each region of DeKalb County. In the Plan, Candler Road ART was identified as a potential transit improvement within DeKalb County (see attached Candler Road Fact Sheet). While no ART stops are planned in front of this parcel on Candler Road, there will be an increased pedestrian demand for this location due to proximity to improved transit. Sidewalks and driveways for the development should be carefully designed with pedestrian access and safety in mind. However, Staff acknowledges that a grocery store could be a community asset which “promotes physically attractive, environmentally safe, and economically sound non-residential developments” as envisioned by the goals of the I-20 Overlay District if designed to hide the parking lot with appropriate landscaping and building(s), encourage pedestrian activity as stipulated by the I-20 Overlay District and the Candler Road ART, and minimize any adverse impacts on residential properties along the east and south side of the project. Additionally, the plan needs to clarify the improvements to open space areas regarding street furniture, decorative lighting, and pavilion areas to promote community engagement as referenced in the application. To that end, the applicant has submitted a revised plan which provides a hardscape public open space plaza with landscaping at the corner of Glenwood Road and Candler Road. Additionally, one internal landscaped sidewalk has been provided connecting the proposed sidewalk along Glenwood Road to the proposed grocery store. In an effort to maximize pedestrian connectivity, the Planning Department is also recommending as a zoning condition that there be an internal landscaped path from Candler Road to the grocery store, and another internal landscaped path from the proposed hardscape plaza to the grocery store. Taken as whole, the proposed hardscape public plaza, internal landscaped sidewalks, and external sidewalks and street trees along all public road frontages should foster a minimally acceptable level of pedestrian walkability as called for by the I-20 Overlay District and the CRC Character Area. All three public roads bordering this project (Glenhill Place, Glenwood Road, and Candler Road) would need to provide required sidewalks, landscape strips, pedestrian lighting and street lighting as required by the DeKalb County Zoning Ordinance and the DeKalb County Transportation Department (see attached). Therefore, upon review of Section 7.3.10.A (Modifications and changes to approved conditions of zoning) of the Zoning Ordinance, it is the recommendation of the Planning & Sustainability Department that the major modification application be “Approved, with the attached conditions”.
PLANNING COMMISSION VOTE: (May 6, 2025) Approval with Conditions 5-1-0. Vivian Moore moved, Jan Costello seconded for approval with two (2) conditions, per Staff recommendation. Winton Cooper opposed.
COMMUNITY COUNCIL VOTE/RECOMMENDATION: (April 2025) Approval with conditions 8-0-1. Council recommended approval with the following conditions: 1) provide sound barrier and a substantial beautification buffer for the single-family community to the east to minimize truck traffic noise and visual impacts; and, 2) restrict land uses and standards of the property at the corner of Glenhill Place and Glenwood Road (3221 Glenwood) to align with the I-20 Overlay District.