City of Powder Springs - File #: PZ 24--002

• File #: PZ 24--002
• Version: 1
• Type: Rezoning
• Status: Work Session Ready
• File created: 1/3/2024
• In control: Planning & Zoning Commission
• On agenda: 1/31/2024
• Final action: 2/5/2024
• Title: Rezoning Request. Annexation of a 4.332 ac tract, and rezone from GC (county) to NRC (city). The property is located within land lot 866, 19th district, 2nd section, Cobb County Georgia. PIN: 19086600040.
• Indexes: MIT FY 23 - Prepare for Growth and Development (infrastructure in place; annexation; curb cuts, recycling; signage)

Date	Ver.	Action By	Action	Result
2/5/2024	1	City Council	approved	Pass
1/29/2024	1	Planning & Zoning Commission
1/11/2024	1	Planning & Zoning Commission

CASE NUMBER:   PZ 24-002

APPLICANT:  Satsangi, LLC., represented by Joel Larkin.

REZONING REQUEST: Rezone from GC (county) to NRC (city).

LOCATION: Powder Springs Road, within land lot 866, 19th district, 2nd section, Cobb County Georgia. PIN: 19086600040.

ZONING:  General Commercial, Cobb County (GC).       ACRES: a 4.332 ac.     PIN: 19086600040.

Staff Recommendation:  APPROVAL                                          Planning and Zoning:

BACKGROUND:  The subject property is owned by Mr. Patel, who is the owner operator of the Chevron Service Station adjacent to the undeveloped subject site. Mr. Patel was initially interested in annexing both of his properties into the city, but the proximity to Mableton’s boundary caused a conflict as annexing the service station would result in the creation of an unincorporated island.

Cobb County has provided a Notice of Non-Objection to the proposed annexation and rezoning.

Request Summary

•                     Annexation: The applicant proposes to annex the subject property from Cobb County into the City of Powder Springs.

•                     Rezoning: The applicant requests to rezone the property from General Commercial (GC) to Neighborhood Retail Commercial (NRC).

Existing Conditions

•                     The property is undeveloped and consists of open land and wooded areas.

•                     Located between the Chevron Station and Candy Apple Customs on Powder Springs Road.

•                     The subject property is currently zoned GC (General Commercial) in Cobb County.

•                     The surrounding area within the City of Powder Springs is zoned CRC.

Proposed Development

•                     10,000-square-foot package store as the initial phase.

•                     Two additional retail buildings: 7,500 square feet and 4,020 square feet, to be developed later based on potential future tenants’ requirements.

•                     See figures 5 through 8.

Consistency Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Ordinances

•                     Comprehensive Plan: The proposed NRC zoning is consistent with the City's Comprehensive Plan, which designates the area for professional employment centers and supports the requested NRC zoning district.

•                     Zoning Ordinance: The proposed use for a package store is permitted in NRC zoning and is compatible with surrounding zoning districts and existing uses in the City, and County.

•                     The proposed setbacks and dimensions are compliant with the provisions of the UDC.

•                     The proposed parking for the package store is compliant with the provisions of the UDC. Parking proposed for future phases exceeds the minimum for general retail uses, and staff expects that future NRC uses would satisfy their specific minimum requirements.

Potential Impacts

City’s Eastern Gateway: The development will be at the main gateway to the city on the eastern boundary. It is essential that the architectural standards, elevation materials, and building quality for the initial and future phases are of the highest standards.

Traffic: The development is expected to generate additional traffic. A traffic impact study should be conducted to assess the impact and propose mitigation measures.

Public Services: The development will require additional city public services such as police and refuse collection. The applicant’s development plans is expected to demonstrate that planned and existing infrastructure (ex. roads, stormwater, streetlighting, signage, etc.) will adequately serve the development.

Economic: The development is expected to generate new jobs and tax revenue, benefiting the City's economy. The Economic Development Director, Marsellas Williams, is supportive of the proposed development.

Environmental: In general, uses in NRC zoning are expected to have no adverse environmental impact. The developments’ environmental and stormwater impact and mitigation measure will be reviewed at the time of Land Disturbance Permitting.

SURROUNDING AREA:

Commercial uses prevail in the area. The city’s zoning districts are shown in figure 1, with GC zoning in Cobb County prevailing to the east, and LI in the county prevailing to the south.  The proximity to Mableton’s city limits is shown in figure 3. Figure 4 shows the undeveloped subject site adjacent to the applicant’s Chevron Service Station.  Figure 5 shows the proposed site plan (large format attached to agenda). Table 1 shows all package stores currently operating within Powder Springs’ city limits.

Figure 1. Powder Springs Zoning Districts

Figure 2. Future Land Use: Professional Employment Center

Figure 3. Yellow: City of Powder Springs. Purple: City of Mableton. Turquoise Outline: Undeveloped Subject Site.

Figure 4. Undeveloped site adjacent to Chevron on Powder Springs Road.

Table 1. Package stores currently operating in Powder Springs

1.	SEVEN SEAS BOTTLE SHOP	4121 AUSTELL POWDER SPRINGS RD
2.	BROWNSVILLE PACKAGE	4400 BROWNSVILLE RD   SUITE 106/107
3.	POWDER SPRINGS BOTTLE SHOP	3217 NEW MACLAND RD, SUITE 30
4.	1 STOP PACKAGE	3721 NEW MACLAND ROAD, STE 600

PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT

Figure 5. Proposed Site Plan

Figure 6. Proposed front elevation.

Figure 7. Proposed rear and side elevations.

Figure 8. Minimum Dimensional and Parking Requirements compliant with UDC provisions.

Figure 9. Alcohol Distance Separation Survey.

ANALYSIS:

The application was reviewed against the following criteria:

a.                     Whether the proposed zoning district and uses within that district are compatible with the purpose and intent of the comprehensive plan. The future development map and the future land use plan map of the City’s comprehensive plan shall be used in decision making relative to amendments to the official zoning map.

The Subject Property is located in unincorporated Cobb County.  Applicant is filing a contemporaneous application to annex the Property.   The Cobb County Future Land Use Map (“FLUM”) delineates the Subject Property as being within the confines of the Neighborhood Activity Center (“NAC”) land use category.  The City of Powder Springs FLUM delineates nearby properties as being in the Retail Commercial, Mixed Use, Parks Recreation and Conservation future land use categories.  The proposed Neighborhood Retail Commercial (“NRC”) zoning district and the proposed uses contained and embodied within the Applications, along with the proximity to other commercial properties in similar land use designations, will provide a continuance of NRC uses similar to other development along this section of Powder Springs Road.  

b.                     Whether the proposed zoning district and uses permitted within that district are suitable in view of the zoning and development of adjacent and nearby property.

The zoning proposal will permit a use of the property which is suitable in the context of existing development and zonings which are in direct contiguity or adjacent to the Subject Property and along Powder Springs Road.

c.                     Whether the existing use or usability of adjacent or nearby property will be adversely affected by one or more uses permitted in the requested zoning district.

The zoning proposal will have no adverse effect or impact upon the existing uses or usability of adjacent or nearby properties, the preponderance of which are also commercially zoned on Powder Springs Road.  In fact, an affiliate of the Applicant owns and operates a convenience store on the parcel abutting to the northeast at the Corner of Powder Springs Road and Sanders Road.  The proposed development will provide additional retail services/products to neighborhoods in this area. 

d.                     Whether there are substantial reasons why the property cannot or should not be used as currently zoned.

The Subject Property to be affected by the Annexation and Rezoning proposal has limited reasonable economic use as currently zoned in that its current GC zoning classification in Cobb County cannot be developed in its current NAC land use category.  The owner of the Subject Property is suffering a significant economic detriment by virtue of the continuation of the present GC zoning classification in Cobb County.   

e.                     Whether public facilities such as roads, schools, water and sewer utilities, and police and fire protection will be adequate to serve the proposed zoning district and uses permitted.

The zoning proposal and proposed uses will have no adverse impact upon the existing infrastructure including, but not limited to, existing streets, fire and police protection, transportation facilities, utilities or schools.  To the contrary, the new construction and businesses which are proposed for the property will require the extension of existing sanitary sewer infrastructure and a continuing stream of tax and other revenues that will enhance the City’s ability to provide and maintain required infrastructure in the immediate area. Additionally, the proposed NRC development on the Subject Property will have access on an arterial road and not on less intense road classifications, making ingress and egress similar to other commercial uses along this section of Powder Springs Road.   

f.                     Whether the proposed zoning district and uses permitted within that zoning district are supported by new or changing conditions not anticipated by the comprehensive plan or reflected in the existing zoning on the property or surrounding properties.

The proposed district and uses are consistent with the zonings and uses in Cobb County and adjacent City properties.

g.                     Whether the proposed zoning district of NRC and uses permitted within that zoning district reflect a reasonable balance between the promotion of the public health, safety, morality or general welfare and the right to unrestricted use of property.

The retail commercial proposal is balanced between the proposed zoning classification and the uses of the subject property and the proposed uses’ impact to the public’s health, safety and general welfare, all of which is beneficial from a land use perspective.

STAFF RECOMMENDATION: APPROVAL, with the following Conditions:

1.                     The approval of the rezoning request to rezone the property from General Commercial (GC) to Neighborhood Retail Commercial (NRC). The property shall be developed in substantial conformity to the site plan prepared by the Crusselle Company, dated 12/15/2023.

2.                     Parking area lighting shall be maximally illuminated to the extent allowed under the City of Powder Springs code.

3.                     The applicant shall install a commercial security camera system at the proposed Package

Store.

4.                     All buildings located on this the site must consist of a minimum of 50% brick or stone. The remaining building material must be consistent with the standards outline in Article 5 of the Unified Development Code. Stucco will not be permitted. All other building material and color scheme must be consistent with Unified Development Code and Powder Springs approved color scheme. Architectural review will be conducted administratively by staff prior to the building permitting process.

5.                     Sidewalk and landscaping buffer and frontage requirements will be provided along the frontage of Powder Springs Road for the entire parcel. All sidewalk and landscaping along Powder Springs Road must be installed prior to the issuance of the Certificate of Occupancy for the Package Store.

6.                     A deceleration lane shall be provided for the new curb cut along Powder Springs Road.

7.                     This property will be part of a Business Owner Association as required by Section 1-82 of the Unified Development Code. All buildings on this property shall have a cohesive architecturally rich appearance and have a uniform sign program.

8.                     The existing billboard sign will be allowed to remain as a legal non-conforming use.

9.                     Should it become feasible to annex the adjacent Service Station property owned by Mr. Patel, then the applicant shall agree to do so.

Appendix I. Cobb County Departmental Comments