Council

Partial rendering of a proposed Perimeter development with planned shared parking for office tenants and residents. Some council members are concerned the shared parking will make it difficult for seniors who may be attracted to the one-level living this development offers. The parking decks (indicated in gray) are separate from the condo buildings and there are no current plans for reserved parking spaces. 

Parking spots for residents at a proposed Perimeter development was a concern for some Dunwoody city council members after listening to the developer’s presentation Monday night. Grubb Properties, the Charlotte, NC based developer, plans shared parking residents of 900 condos and office employees.

Three office buildings currently exist on the nearly 20-acre site off Ashford Dunwoody Road and the plan is to add a high-rise office building, three parking decks, three condominium towers and eight town homes. The development also includes a three-acre park. The town homes would have dedicated parking.

Councilor John Heneghan asked representatives from Grubb Properties specific questions about how far residents would have to walk from a parking garage to a condo. Heneghan’s concern was for seniors who may want to transition to the one-level living condos.

“Explain to me how this development will serve the needs of this community,” Heneghan asked. “How can it serve people who want to sell their house, who want easy living.”

Paul O’Shaughnessy with Grubb’s development department said that all parking would be accessible even if it was in a different building than the condominiums. Parking garages will have elevators.

Heneghan asked that all 900 condos have at least one deeded parking spot and that residents be able to take an elevator to their unit. Otherwise, Heneghan said, it’s too far to walk.

Councilor Lynn Deutsch said that the biggest need for housing in Dunwoody is for someone’s parents to have one-level living. This parking situation would be a challenge for them, Deutsch said.

O’Shaughnessy said that the company will to look at parking plans again based on council’s feedback.

Deutsch said she was also concerned about how the buildings looked in the renderings provided by Grubb. The look is institutional, Deutsch said.

Grubb representatives said that the company had not settled on a final design but would work on design if the rezone request is approved. The site is currently zoned for office and institution.

Deutsch said that she generally does not vote for something if she doesn’t know what it will look like. Deutsch also asked about retail and said she would like to see retail development expedited.

“I have several friends that work in the buildings you own (on the site),” Deutsch said. “A consistent complaint is that there are no services, there’s no retail or restaurants.”

O’Shaughnessy said that adding retail would be toward the end of full buildout. Site construction is expected to take 10 years.

Councilor Tom Lambert said that overall, he was very much in favor of the project. However, Lambert said that the traffic impact in Grubb’s application rubbed him the wrong way.

“I just have a hard time when you’re adding 10,000 car trips a day saying that that’s not an adverse impact on traffic,” Lambert said.

Councilor Terry Nall said that the number of cars and trips to the site would be less for the proposed mixed use, office and residential, than if the site was strictly built for office space.

Offices traditionally generate more trips than residential, said Grubb’s traffic engineer, Elizabeth Johnson.

Grubb’s plans for the development include encouraging alternative transportation. In a press release from Grubb, the company shared its plans to partner with Copenhagenize Design Company to make bicycle culture an integral part of the urban landscape at the new development, Park at Perimeter Center East.

Grubb initially proposed a denser site with 1,200 residential units with up to 25 percent rental units. The current plan is to only allow 10 percent of the 900 condos to be rented and this would be controlled by a homeowner’s association.

Council was not expected to vote on the project until their December 10 meeting. The project has the support of the Dunwoody Homeowners Association and was approved by the planning commission.

Dunwoody Village Overlay

Council members had few questions on the proposed ordinance to change the Dunwoody Village overlay which includes removing restrictions to construct new buildings in the Williamsburg style.

Nall said that one purpose of the overlay was to spur redevelopment and to protect what makes the Village special. Since the city was formed, Nall said he was only aware of two buildings that had been torn down and rebuilt in the Village.

“Clearly the overlay has not performed as I think it was intended to do,” Nall said.

Deutsch said that she thinks green space and walkability in the Village will lead to what the city wants.

“That is my perspective, having a gathering space,” Deutsch said. “Housing is part of it. I don’t want to rule out future housing potential in the Village.”

There are currently 79 town homes under construction along Dunwoody Village Parkway.

Shortal said that he thought retaining the Design Review Advisory Committee is important. DRAC is a citizen volunteer board that currently reviews sign permit applications, development and building permits for the Village and then makes recommendations to city staff.

The ordinance, written by city staff, proposes to eliminate this group.

“One of reasons we became a city was to not concentrate power around the city council and staff,” Shortal said. “It’s still important to have citizen involvement.”

(0) comments

Welcome to the discussion.

Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.