Dunwoody’s comprehensive plan: Changes and public input

During a marathon Dunwoody City Council meeting on July 28, the panel made significant changes to its proposed 20-year comprehensive plan that will be used as a road map for commercial and residential development.

The draft of the non-binding document will next move to Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) and the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) for review, and then return to the council for another public hearing and eventual adoption.

During the three hours the council spent listening to public comments and debating the plan, the majority of discussions revolved around acceptable recommended uses for each of the defined character areas.

The Ashford character area, along Ashford Dunwoody Road near the intersection of Ashford Center Parkway, is a hot-button issue because of a proposed low-income, senior housing complex in that area.

Dominium, a property management and development company, has requested to rezone the property from O-I (Office Industrial) to PD (Planned Development) to allow the site to be redeveloped into an age-restricted, income-restricted housing community with 220 rental units, with an approximate 240-space underground parking garage, and eight surface visitor parking spaces.

On July 8, despite vocal opposition to the proposal, the city’s planning commission recommended the plan by a 4-1 vote. It will move to the council for a public hearing and first read on Aug. 11.

Opponents of the Dominium project wanted to move the acceptable list of uses for senior living from a green designation (appropriate) to red (inappropriate).

Former Georgia State Sen. Dan Weber, during public comment before the council debated the plan, said restricting the density that the apartments would bring (64 units per acre) would “maintain our neighborhoods as the top priority.”

Related stories:
• Dunwoody Planning Commission defers decision on low-income housing
• Dunwoody Homeowners Association will not support low-income housing rezoning

“These revisions reflect a community-supported vision for growth and equip council and staff to engage with developers who will bring desired townhomes and cottages to this area,” Weber said.

The council did not approve moving the senior-living use to red, but did shift it to a yellow designation. However, the point may be moot.

Even if the senior-living use was moved to red, it will not affect the Dominium proposal, which is going before the council in August. The new comprehensive plan will not be adopted for several months, at the soonest, because of the ARC and DCA review period and other possible revisions. The deadline for adopting the plan, in order to meet government requirements, is Oct. 31, according to Dunwoody city staff.

Former Dunwoody City Council member Robert Wittenstein, who is one of the people spearheading the opposition to the Dominium proposal, said he was “disappointed about the outcome of that one issue in the Ashford Character Area, but that I thought council had an extensive and professional discussion.”

He also said he felt the new plan was an improvement over the existing comprehensive plan.

Su Ellis, another resident who opposes the Dominium project, said she also was disappointed with the council’s decision, but felt the group’s voice was being heard.

“While we are disappointed that the second edit [to move the senior-living use to red] was not approved for the Ashford Character Area, we are happy with the recognition that maintaining our neighborhoods is the top priority,” Ellis said. “We fully expect this philosophy will be reflected in future zoning and development decisions.”

During the meeting, council members made dozens of motions about acceptable-use designations, and for the most part, senior-living, multi-use, and mixed-use was moved from green to yellow in several character areas.

In other action, the council:
• recognized Sarv Dharavane, who, as a fifth grader, came in third in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in May;
• discussed solar energy options for its city hall building;
• heard that the city’s 2024 audit revealed no significant findings.

Dunwoody city staff is still working to unravel the myriad of changes to the comprehensive plan made during the meeting. Rough Draft will report further on the changes when the city issues its official meeting summary.