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Land Use and Zoning

The Land Use and Zoning committee handles zoning variance requests.

EACA defeats Text Amendment to Neighborhood Commercial by one vote

Community members gathered on 5/11 to hear a possible revision to the Neighborhood Commercial Ordinance that would have made drive thrus legal on any lot in the Neighborhood Commercial zone North of Mchpherson Ave. The revision would have also legalized a drive thru at Happy Donuts restaurant that is currently operating illegally. Community members debated the issue in a positive forum eventually voting by secret ballot. The vote ended at 31 opposing the text amendment, 30 supporting the amendment, and one abstaining. Wow!!! and who said your vote doesn't count! Kudos to everyone for expressing their opinion in a civil forum. The East Atlanta Business Association and the EAV Ad Hoc Committee on NC both opposed the language as well by slightly wider margins.

Position of the Land Use and Zoning Committee on Revision to Neighborhood Commercial

The EACA Land Use and Zoning Committee supports the East Atlanta Master Plan as implemented in Neighborhood Commercial (NC) zoning. It opposes any change in the law that would allow for additional drive-thrus including the following language that was proposed at the 5/11 EACA meeting.

Amend the existing Section 16-32.012 Site Limitations from the following: 5. Drive-thru services, windows and facilities are prohibited with the exception of fuel dispensing services. To be substituted with the following:

5. Drive-thru services, windows and facilities are permitted only for fuel dispensing services and for lots on the north side of McPherson Avenue and on Moreland Avenue north of the intersection of McPherson Avenue and on Flat Shoals Avenue north of the intersection of McPherson Avenue. For new construction, drive-thru services, windows and facilities shall not be located between the principal structure and the street. Where an existing structure is converted to include drive-thru services, windows and facilities, and the drive thru component cannot be located in the same manner as for new construction, such component may be allowed by administrative variation.

Issue
As part of implementing East Atlanta Master Plan, NC Zoning was implemented to support the “Village” nature of the EAV. One primary purpose of NC Zoning is to help the East Atlanta Village create a safe, attractive, walking environment. One key way to implement this purpose is to convert parking lots into outdoor dining to connect the building to the sidewalk (Pasta Thyme recently did this).
Drive-thrus are currently prohibited in the Village’s NC Zoning because they create a less pedestrian-friendly environment (McDonalds, South-Trust and others are permitted through a grandfather clause.). The Ad Hoc NC Zoning Committee (8Y; 6N; 2A), the East Atlanta Business Association (5Y; 1N; 4A), and the EACA LU/Z Committee (5Y; 0N; 0A) have voted to oppose this language.

What will happen if this is implemented?
The proposed revision would allow drive-thrus on several additional lots. Possible results could include fast food restaurants being built on each of these lots including those along McPherson Ave across from the proposed library (eliminating at least 2 historical homes).

Who is asking for the change?
Happy Donuts. Happy Donuts opened their business after the grandfather clause for drive-thrus in the EAV expired. The City of Atlanta issued Happy Donuts a business certificate and approval to open the drive-thru in error and has since revoked that privilege due to the NC zoning code. Unfortunately, Happy Donuts did not attend EABA or EACA meetings to obtain community input prior to opening where they would have been informed of the requirements of NC Zoning. As a result, Happy Donuts continues to illegally operate their drive thru in violation of the NC zoning code.

Why is neighborhood commercial zoning important?
It has allowed the community to close stores that were inappropriate for the “Village” nature of the East Atlanta. Two examples include an adult book store, and automobile body shop. Both had been given permission to open by the City even though they were breaking the zoning code.

Why is this a threat to Neighborhood Commercial Zoning?
This revision violates the principles of the East Atlanta Master Plan and would set a precedent for future businesses to use to seek exceptions that would threaten our goal of creating a safe, attractive, walkable community. It is common practice for McDonalds to appeal zoning classifications that do not allow for drive-thrus -- granting this exception would give McDonalds or any other developer with deep pockets more leverage in court to do this.

The proposed language could allow for new fast food restaurants with drive-thrus across from the new library. Let’s move forward by supporting policies that create a safe, attractive, walkable community like putting in sidewalk cafes instead of trying to change the law to allow for fast food drive-thrus.