Controversial Lindbergh area planned big box retail development goes back to City Council on Monday

type='html'>The controversial proposed Lindbergh area mixed-use retail development once again is expected to be taken up by the full Atlanta City Council on Monday, after Fuqua Development changed the plan last week in an effort to garner enough votes to pass both the requested land-use and zoning changes.

Aaron Watson

 On behalf of the developer, At-large City Councilman Aaron Watson submitted an amendment to the zoning paper on Wednesday to add 100 affordable senior housing units into the residential component of the proposed development, possibly to entice his southwest and south Atlanta colleagues to support it.

At the moment, BuckheadView would characterize as certain “no” votes on the development plans three of the four members of City Council who represent Buckhead districts and the fourth member as a possible “no” vote.

Dist. 7 Councilman Howard Shook and Dist. 6 Councilman Alex Wan have been quoted by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution saying they will vote against both the proposed land use and zoning changes requested for the nearly 22-acre parcel located off Piedmont Road between Morosgo and Lindbergh drives.

Alex Wan

Howard Shook

Dist. 8 Councilwoman Yolanda Adrean told BuckheadView this weekend she is voting against it. Dist. 9 Councilwoman Felicia Moore, indicated to BuckheadView some time ago that she does not favor the proposed development.

No one is counting on Watson, who claims strong ties to Buckhead but may have stronger ties to Jeff Fuqua and his company, or the other at-large members of City Council, H. Lamar Willis and Michael Jullian Bond, who also have claimed strong Buckhead ties—especially at election time.

Yolanda Adrean

Those in the community hoping that council will be able to vote down the development on Monday, hope that a couple of west/southwest Atlanta council representatives, Keisha Lance Bottoms and C.T. Martin, might join their cause, since those two have legislation pending to stop another Family Dollar store from being developed in their neighborhoods, where they claim there are already too many of that type stores.

Felicia Moore

And, of course, Council President Ceasar Mitchell, also has strong ties to Buckhead, where his law offices are located and where he garners a good deal of support at election time.

One more council member that might be inclined to vote against the development is Kwanza Hall, who represents the Old Fourth Ward, downtown and part of Midtown and also the area of Glenwood Avenue where Fuqua Development has proposed a similar Walmart development.

Fuqua Development redid the site plan for the property at the end of last week to show the location for the 100 affordable senior citizen rental units that were part of Watson’s amendment and also, a repositioning of a 3-acre park and the addition of a playground area that have been added to the project recently.

Above is the newly amended site plan as of the end of  this past week. A
is the senior housing units on the back of the proposed Walmart store (B).
C is the surface parking in front of the Walmart store. D is the remainder
of the parking one level down below C. The remainder of the apartment
housing units are at E surrounding a parking deck. F is the proposed
playground and dog park area and G is the proposed 3-acre park.
Lindbergh Drive is at the bottom of the plan, Morosgo Drive at the top,
Adina Drive to the right and Piedmont Road to the left. 

The new site plan shows the senior housing units tacked onto the back of the proposed 150,000-square-foot Walmart big box store and only having windows on one side—facing Morosgo Drive and the back end of the Home Depot store across the street. There is no indication where parking would be located for those senior residents.

“While the addition of senior housing is well intentioned, the placement is ill-conceived,” said Concilwoman Adrean. “The lack of daylight and the views are of particular concern.”

The new plan shows the remainder of the almost 200 residential units now positioned at the corner of Morosgo and Adina Drives and built surrounding a parking deck. The 3-acre park has now been relocated to the corner of Lindbergh and Adina drives and a playground is positioned between the park area and the majority of the residential apartments.

Above is a map showing the location of the property in
question in south Buckhead off Piedmont Road.  It was
produced by Gordon Certain, but the site plan is an old one.

The 150,000 square foot Walmart store has not moved, but the large surface parking lot in front of the store has now been reduced to 200 surface spaces and another 200 spaces on a level below.

“Despite recent design improvements, the plan remains opposed by the vast majority of the residents who have contacted me,” Shook told the AJC. “When I first ran for public office, I promised to support neighbors, not developers or city planners, when determining what their neighborhoods should look like. I have upheld every neighborhood recommendation since and will do so again,” he stated.

Wan, who chairs the City Council’s Zoning Committee that sent the amended paper back to council with no recommendation this past week, said, “For me the underlying question is the land use,” not whether the store will be a Walmart or something else, he told the AJC.

Wan said Fuqua Development has not made a convincing argument that the city’s long-term land use designations should be revised.

“This area could use development,” Wan told the AJC. “It could use a transformative project. But, so far, a compelling case has not been made.” 

Developer Jeff Fuqua

What Fuqua is seeking is to change the land use for the parcel as designated in the city’s 2011 Comprehensive Development Plan and as outlined in the Special Interest Area-15 legislation of 2001, which designated this parcel for “transit oriented development” The property is presently zoned for high-density residential. Fuqua Development seeks to change the designation to “commercial” for the proposed mixed-use development.

Last week, both the Community Development/Human Resources and Zoning Committees sent the two pieces of legislation back to the full council for a vote for the second time is just about as many weeks—and both again sent them back with “no recommendation.”

The development proposal calls for some 200,000 square feet of retail development and more than 200 apartments. Neighborhood Planning Unit-B has been joined by NPU-F as well as NPUs across the city in opposing the proposed land use and zoning changes.

Of course, once it is changed from residential to commercial, opponents of the project say Fuqua could just eliminate the residential component and make it all retail, claiming that is all he could find a development partner for..

The main objection of NPU-B and NPU-F is that another big box store is not needed in the area and the suburban design of the development does not fit the transit-oriented development concept proposed by the city for the site. The site is adjacent to Lindbergh Plaza shopping center that includes big box Home Depot, Target and Best Buy stores, along with numerous other retail opportunities (many of which are vacant).