This story has been updated to correct the final vote: The Dunwoody Planning Commission voted 4-2 to recommend the rezoning in Dunwoody Village.
Dunwoody is poised to finish a yearlong effort to rezone a series of strip malls to encourage redevelopment, but some residents worry it could cost them their privacy.
Two parcels within the 160-acre Dunwoody Village have yet to be rezoned as part of a transformative effort by the city to create a downtown district akin to downtown Alpharetta or Roswell. The properties which make up the Shops at Dunwoody strip mall were omitted because their owners disagreed with the rezoning conditions and filed a lawsuit.
Those owners and the city have since come to a compromise, but neighbors who border the parcels say they were left out of those discussions. At a Dunwoody Planning Commission meeting Tuesday, they asked for city leaders to slow down.
Brian Daughdrill, an attorney representing the Dunwoody Homeowners Association, said Trailridge Way residents, who share a border with the two properties, want to ensure their buffer is preserved. The city’s compromise with the property owners would shrink the portion of undisturbed land between the residential homes and retail shops.
Neighbors currently have an undisturbed 150-foot tree buffer, but the rezoning would change that to a 35-foot undisturbed buffer. The other 115 feet would still be protected from buildings, but the property owner could chop down trees.
“This isn’t a compromise with the neighbors. This is an 80% reduction from their present (situation),” Daughdrill said during the meeting. “It’s one thing to look over a football field that’s grass and to look at 150 feet of trees.”
Den Webb, an attorney representing the property owners, said the new zoning agreement would end his lawsuit against the city. He doesn’t believe there is a residential buffer requirement, citing a lack of documentation from DeKalb County.
The Dunwoody Planning Commission delayed making a decision on the rezoning last month to give residents more time to hunt down documents. The supposed documents would be from the 1970s, which predate Dunwoody’s formation as a city by decades.
While records requests have mostly came up empty, Daughdrill said meeting minutes and applications from the 1970s and 1980s mention a buffer. However, Webb said the lack of proof likely won’t hold up in court and prolonging the rezoning won’t yield new information.
“There’s nothing new there,” Webb said. “It’s the same information we’ve all had access to for a year.”
Allen Holloway, a resident who lives off Trailridge Way, asked the planning commission to consider how the less stringent buffer would affect homeowners. Holloway said removing trees, which can block sound, would only worsen noise pollution.
“We purchased our house a couple of years ago with the understanding of the undisturbed buffer,” he said. “We have all manner of trucks, delivery and tractor-trailer ... Even with the 150 feet that we have now, (the noise) is completely distracting.”
The planning commission doesn’t make policy, but it does make recommendations to the City Council. Planning Commission Chair Bob Dallas endorsed the rezoning effort, since it more closely resembles the Dunwoody Village Master Plan that the city adopted in 2020.
“It’s not really these property owners themselves that are saying this is their plan. This is really the city’s plan — really it’s your plan,” he said to residents.
The commission voted 4-2 to recommend the rezoning, with Robert Price and Erika Harris voting against it. Harris explained she believes the rezoning is ultimately a good thing for the area, but she didn’t like the lack of clarity regarding county records.
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