A developer’s plans are in limbo after several Stonecrest residents and city staff members opposed the location of a roughly 330,000-square foot distribution facility.
Duke Realty is trying to rezone a 31-acre lot that Stonecrest has set aside for development as a city center. However, the land has remained untouched for decades, leading Duke Realty’s attorney, Harold Buckley, to say the market for retail and residential projects for that property just doesn’t exist.
Instead, Duke Realty wants to construct a massive last-mile distribution center for an unnamed client. Metro Atlanta has welcomed several new warehouse facilities for Amazon, Home Depot and other logistics companies over the past few years, but Stonecrest residents vehemently opposed Duke Realty’s plans at a planning commission meeting Tuesday.
“You would not be talking about putting this near Perimeter Mall,” resident Faye Coffield said. “You would not be talking about putting this anywhere expect for bringing it over here, and that to me is totally unacceptable.”
The commission voted to delay the developer’s rezoning request, putting the project’s future in jeopardy. Chairman Eric Hubbard said the delay would give Duke Realty, which is based in Indianapolis, more time to meet again with the community and city planning staff, who also recommended denying the project since it doesn’t mesh with the city’s long-term development plan.
Buckley said trying to reach a compromise with residents was a futile effort, calling their comments in opposition “the Jerry Springer hour” during the meeting.
“I don’t personally see any purpose in going back now, since I’ve been told that if we go through the motions at this point, we’re not going to change anyone’s mind,” he said.
Expected opposition
Shortly after submitting the project application, Duke Realty held a virtual community meeting at the end of March. Buckley said the public feedback did not surprise him.
“Quite frankly, it’s not a land use that anybody typically embraces anywhere,” he said. “I have yet to have anybody embrace one of these with open arms from a community perspective, but this is where we are.”
Despite the pushback, he said the warehouse would benefit Stonecrest, a city founded in 2017. The land, located near Lithonia Industrial Boulevard just south of I-20, has remained undeveloped since the 1960s. Buckley argued it’s a wasted opportunity for the young city.
The property currently generates about $88 annually in property tax revenue, but that would increase to $12,300 a year if Duke Realty’s project is completed, he said. The warehouse would also create up to 200 jobs.
The project would join several new transport-focused facilities in DeKalb County. A Home Depot distribution center came to Stonecrest this summer, and Amazon also recently announced a last-mile distribution center for Chamblee. Buckley said the county is all-in on these type of facilities, citing a DeKalb-sponsored workforce program meant to support the area’s growing logistics industry.
“Before the pandemic, customer habits were moving away from traditional shopping malls and more toward e-commerce,” he said. “That only accelerated after the pandemic hit, and it doesn’t look like that’s a trend that’s going to reverse itself anytime soon.”
‘Honor the vision’
Stonecrest resident Dave Marcus said he and his neighbors don’t oppose industrial facilities in general — they just don’t think one should go here.
The city’s comprehensive plan, a 286-page document that details Stonecrest’s developmental ambitions through 2038, has the proposed site designated as a city center, which would likely consist of mixed-use developments. Marcus said during Tuesday’s meeting the facility would be a heel turn for the city that would be hard to reverse, especially since there are other Stonecrest properties already zoned for industrial use.
“Honor the vision for this area rather than setting the stage for it to fall pray to developers who want to usurp our vision for their own profit,” Marcus said. “Let them build in the areas where the plan envisions them building.”
Renee Cail, president of an activist group, worried the massive warehouse is too close to residential neighborhoods. Her organization, The Citizens for a Healthy and Safe Environment (CHASE), is entangled in in a pending legal battle with the Metro Green Recycling plant site, another industrial project in Stonecrest.
“There are other ways to build a city other than inundate us with warehouses, factories, gas stations and storage areas. We need things that are going to build community, not destroy it,” Cail said, adding she believes this project perpetuates “environmental racism,” given Stonecrest is nearly 93% Black.
The commission, which doesn’t create policy but does make recommendations for the Stonecrest City Council, voted 4-0 to defer the project to a later meeting. Commissioner Cheryl Moore-Mathis recused herself due to “interactions” she’s had with the developer and the community regarding this project.
Given the heated comments and the lack of middle-ground, Buckley indicated nothing will change before the topic is discussed again.
“The message that came back to us was they didn’t want to talk to us,” he said. “And why did they talk to us? It’s because they didn’t want us to have any false hope that they would ever change their position.”
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