Public Hearing: YES ☒ NO ☐ Department: Planning & Sustainability
SUBJECT:
Title
COMMISSION DISTRICT(S): Commission District 04 Super District 06
Application of Memorial Market, LLC c/o Kathryn M. Zickert for a Special Land Use Permit (SLUP) to allow fuel pumps for a convenience store in the C-1 (Local Commercial) zoning district, at 4717 Memorial Drive.
Body
PETITION NO: N5-2025-1225 SLUP-25-1247735
PROPOSED USE: Fuel pumps for a convenience store.
LOCATION: 4717 Memorial Drive, Decatur, Georgia 30032
PARCEL NO. : 18 012 04 001
INFO. CONTACT: Lucas Carter, Planner
PHONE NUMBER: 404-371-2155
PURPOSE:
Application of Memorial Market, LLC c/o Kathryn M. Zickert for a Special Land Use Permit (SLUP) to allow fuel pumps for a convenience store in the C-1 (Local Commercial) zoning district.
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommended Action
COMMUNITY COUNCIL: (Oct. 2025) Denial.
PLANNING COMMISSION: (November 6, 2025) Pending.
PLANNING STAFF: Denial.
STAFF ANALYSIS: The applicant requests a Special Land Use Permit (SLUP) at 4717 Memorial Drive for fuel pumps accessory to a convenience store. There is also a SLUP companion case for an alcohol outlet accessory to a convenience store (see SLUP-25-1247739). The 0.84-acre site is zoned C-1 (Local Commercial), designated Town Center (TC) on the Future Land Use Map and fronts Memorial Drive at Collingwood Drive. The parcel currently contains a vacant one-story commercial building with a paved parking lot. The applicant is proposing to redevelop the site to construct a new auto-oriented land use comprised of a 5,900 square foot convenience store with fuel pumps and accessory alcohol (beer and wine) sales. A stream buffer separates the southern property line from an adjacent R-100 parcel. The site can physically accommodate the proposed project with required yards, buffers, and parking. However, the requested uses are inconsistent with the intent of the Town Center (TC) character area and the Memorial Drive Revitalization Small Area Plan, both of which emphasize pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use redevelopment and a gradual transition away from auto-centric uses such as fuel and convenience retail. (DeKalb County Unified Comprehensive Plan, Page 87) The TC designation encourages higher-intensity, walkable redevelopment with active frontages, reduced surface parking, and multi-modal access. The proposed layout-with dominant fuel pumps and parking between the building and the street-fails to reinforce a pedestrian realm or contribute to the corridor’s envisioned form. While surrounding parcels include similar legacy C-1 uses such as drive-through restaurants and expanded strip malls, continued introduction of auto-oriented projects undermines the small area plan’s pedestrian- reinvestment goals. Approval would further entrench the prevailing pattern of vehicular convenience uses rather than advancing the transition to compact, walkable, and transit-supportive development anticipated for this corridor. Public services and infrastructure are adequate. However, the site’s design and use character do not align with the policy direction of the Comprehensive Plan or Small Area Plan. Based on review of Section 7.4.6 (Special Land Use Permit criteria) of the DeKalb County Zoning Ordinance, Staff finds that the proposed SLUP is not consistent with the impact criteria of Section 7.4.6, nor is it in harmony with the intent of the Comprehensive Plan or the purposes of the Town Center designation to provide pedestrian-oriented land uses. Additionally, the proposed SLUP does not appear to advance the redevelopment objectives of the Memorial Drive Revitalization Small Area Plan. Therefore, Staff recommends “Denial” of the requested Special Land Use Permits for fuel pumps.
PLANNING COMMISSION VOTE: (November 6, 2025) Pending.
COMMUNITY COUNCIL VOTE/RECOMMENDATION: (October 2025) Denial 8-0-0.