Public Hearing: YES ☒ NO ☐ Department: Planning & Sustainability
SUBJECT:
Title Commission Districts: 5 and 7
Application of D.R. Horton c/o Battle Law, P.C. to rezone property from R-85 (Residential Medium Lot-85) zoning district to RNC (Residential Neighborhood Conservation) zoning district for the development of single-family detached dwellings, to be developed as Phases 3 and 4 of the existing Champions Runs Subdivision, at 8277 Norris Lake Way.
Body
PETITION NO: D1-2025-1621 Z-26-1247833
PROPOSED USE: Development of single-family, detached dwellings.
LOCATION: 8277 Norris Lake Way, Snellville, Georgia 30039
PARCEL NO.: 16 228 01 007
INFO. CONTACT: Adam Chappell, Sr. Planner
PHONE NUMBER: 404-371-2155
PURPOSE:
Application of D.R. Horton c/o Battle Law, P.C. to rezone property from R-85 (Residential Medium Lot-85) zoning district to RNC (Residential Neighborhood Conservation) zoning district for the development of single-family detached dwellings, to be developed as Phases 3 and 4 of the existing Champions Runs Subdivision.
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommended Action
COMMUNITY COUNCIL: (August 2026) No Quorum for this vote. (April 2026) Full-cycle deferral. (Dec. 2025) Full-cycle deferral.
PLANNING COMMISSION: (September 1, 2026) Pending. (May 5, 2026) Full-Cycle Deferral. (Jan. 6, 2025) Two-Cycle Deferral.
PLANNING STAFF: (September 2026) Approval with Conditions. (May 2026) Full-Cycle Deferral. (Jan 2026) Two-Cycle Deferral.
STAFF ANALYSIS: The subject property is located in a Suburban (SUB) character area per the DeKalb County 2050 Unified Plan, which aims “to recognize those areas of the County that have developed in traditional suburban land use patterns while encouraging new development to have increased connectivity and accessibility. These areas include those developed (built out) and those under development pressures… Future development should provide better pedestrian and community connectivity and be designed in a way that preserves and enhances existing greenspace. Potential development strategies include clustered development, conservation communities, or conservation villages and hamlets” (DeKalb County 2050 Unified Plan, page 41). Several single-family detached subdivisions are located in the vicinity of the development site (not including Phases 1 and 2 of Champion’s Run), with some lot sizes as small as 0.2 acres. The proposed development would have similarly sized lots when compared to these developments, while preserving additional greenspace. The proposal to rezone the property to the RNC zoning district is consistent with the SUB character area’s goals; the purposes and intents of the RNC zoning district are as follows (per Section 2.10.2. of the Zoning Ordinance): A. To encourage creative residential planning and development within the County that will preserve unique environmental features and be consistent with the comprehensive land use plan and the Green DeKalb Initiative that provides greenspace areas and preserves existing natural trees and vegetation; B. To conserve significant areas of useable greenspace within single-family neighborhoods in the Rural and Suburban character areas of the comprehensive plan; C. To provide a residential development that permits flexibility of design in order to promote environmentally sensitive and efficient use of land in compliance with the Code; D. To promote construction of accessible landscaped walking trails and bike paths both within subdivisions and, where possible, connected to neighboring communities, businesses, and facilities to reduce reliance on automobiles; E. To preserve natural features, specimen trees, historic buildings, archaeological sites and establish a sense of community; F. To improve water quality and reduce runoff and soil erosion by reducing the total amount of clearing, grading, and paving, within the total area of a development; G. To encourage efficient community design that reduces infrastructure maintenance and public service costs borne by the County; and H. To implement the future development map of the County's most current comprehensive plan. It should be noted that there is no “Rural” character area per the DeKalb County 2050 Unified Plan; the closest equivalent to this would likely be the Conservation Open Space (COS) character area per said plan. Regarding the proposed site plan, however, the ARC has found the proposal to be less consistent with its goals. According to DRI #4578, the ARC concluded that the proposal is not aligned with its Rural Areas growth policy recommendations; these recommendations call for the “preservation of critical environmental locations and resources, as well as agricultural and forest use”. The ARC further noted that: “There is a strong desire from residents and elected officials in these areas to keep them rural…The region is striving to protect these areas by limiting infrastructure investments to targeted areas and allowing no development or only low impact development.” (Champions Run DRI 4578, page 1) While the proposal appeared to avoid most stream buffer areas (with the exception of two (2) proposed ROW crossings, which are likely supported by the Land Development Code), the ARC stated that the development could potentially result in clear-cutting; “the project could be more supportive of environmental policies by preserving more natural wooded area through conservation neighborhood methods and utilizing land clearing methods that preserve existing trees on actual home sites rather than clearcutting the entire site.” (Champions Run DRI 4578, page 3). In response to the DRI study, the applicant provided an updated site plan, dated July 31, 2026. The site plan updates its greenspace calculations, providing additional open space in the northwestern portion of the development site adjacent to the potential site for the North Yellow River Park. This resulted in a decrease in the proposed number of units from 237 to 223 total units (553 units amongst all Phases), at a density of approximately 1.96 units per acre. An additional connection is proposed to Phases 1 and 2 (between proposed Lots 175-176). The comment regarding potential clearcutting has not been addressed. This notwithstanding, any future development of the site would be required to demonstrate adequate tree recompense during the Sketch Plat and Land Development/Disturbance Permit (LDP) phases of development. The updated proposal appears to address some of the DRI study concerns, and the development would be consistent with previous County decisions for other developments in the area. From a land use perspective, the proposal represents a continuation of County policy and decisions for the area that are consistent with existing development patterns (Section 7.3.5. (B)). The DRI study provided by the ARC has noted several aspects of the proposal that does not appear to align with its own policies; updates to the site plan appears to address some of these concerns. Preservation of open space does appear to align with minimum County Code requirements, which will be required to be confirmed during the Sketch Plat and LDP phases of development. It should be noted that the site plan at the rezoning phase is conceptual, and additional infrastructure improvements meeting minimum County requirements could result in a further reduction of proposed dwelling units and additional open space being provided (Section 7.3.5. (G)). Additionally, the current zoning designation of R-85 already allows for a single-family subdivision to be developed by-right, with far fewer requirements for the preservation of open space; the proposal represents an improvement beyond the minimum that could theoretically be provided for the development site (Section 7.3.5. (C)). Therefore, based on review of the applicable criteria under Section 27-7.3.5 of the DeKalb County Zoning Ordinance, it is the recommendation of the Planning & Sustainability Department that this application be granted ”Approval with the attached conditions”.
PLANNING COMMISSION VOTE: (September 1, 2026) Pending. (May 5, 2026) Full-Cycle Deferral 8-0-0. Commissioner Costello moved, Commissioner Patton seconded for a full-cycle deferral, per Staff recommendation. (January 6, 2025) Two-Cycle Deferral 9-0-0. Commissioner Cooper moved, Commissioner West seconded for a two-cycle deferral to the May 2026 zoning agenda, per Staff recommendation.
COMMUNITY COUNCIL VOTE/RECOMMENDATION: (August 2026) No Quorum for this vote. Members present voted for Approval. Motion carried 3-0-2. (April 2026) Full-cycle deferral 10-0-0. (December 2025) Full-cycle deferral 7-1-0.