DUNWOODY —  Developers of Perimeter Marketplace, a new grocery-anchored shopping center along Ashford Dunwoody Road between Ashwood Parkway and Meadow Lane, have presented a request to change their site plan. 

The City Council originally approved the shopping center in June 2019. Now, the developers are asking to change plans for a standalone bank on the southwest corner of the lot to allow for uses that include medical service, office, restaurant or retail. 

Speaking at the Feb. 10 City Council meeting, a representative for the developers said the bank tenant they had anticipated fell through, and they were now in talks with a medical service firm. She said they want the additional options for flexibility. 

Perimeter Rendering

Renderings capture what Perimeter Marketplace, a new grocery-anchored shopping center, could look like at the corner of Ashford Dunwoody Road and Meadow Lane.

The Perimeter Marketplace project received pushback during the initial zoning process last year. The development will pave over a pond to put in a parking lot, reducing Perimeter Center’s already limited green space. Opponents argued the plan does not conform with the Perimeter Center Overlay, which calls for more walkability, green space and residences and fewer surface parking lots.

One resident revived those arguments during public comment at the Feb. 10 meeting.

“It certainly does not create the conditions for a true ‘live-work’ environment,” Robert Wolford said. “The biggest problem I have with this plan is nowhere on the site is there residential housing.”

The council asked several questions of the developer during the first read. Council members focused on the developers’ request to allow a drive-through if the building is used for a medical service. The original bank plan allowed a drive-through, but they are generally discouraged in areas where cities are trying to increase walkability. 

“I just question whether or not it actually needs to have a drive-through,” Councilwoman Stacey Harris said. 

Also at the Feb. 10 meeting, the council heard the first reads of proposed code changes to allow for microbreweries, open carry in Dunwoody Village and construction fence wrap signs. 

Additionally, the council approved plans to build 4,900 square feet of classroom space and administrative offices at Saint Barnabas Anglican Church on North Peachtree Road.

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