Council Delays Action On 'Pill Hill' Apartments

Sign up for the Sandy Springs Patch newsletter!

---

A rezoning request that would accommodate a mixed use development on the edge of Sandy Springs was delayed Tuesday evening by city leaders.

The City Council unanimously voted to defer a request from North American Properties to rezone 3.88 acres on the northeast corner of Johnson Ferry Road and South Johnson Ferry Road from O-I to MIX to allow the company to develop a mixed-use building.

North American Properties also requested a use permit to increase the maximum building height from 60 to 70 feet.

The property, which is largely undeveloped, is located on three parcels: 0 Johnson Ferry Road, 1430 South Johnson Ferry Road and 1160 Johnson Ferry Road. It’s owned by Emory Saint Joseph’s Hospital.

The company initially proposed incorporating 305 multi-family rental units, 10,350 square feet of medical and office space, 5,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space and a pocket park in its development.

However, a slightly different version of the project was presented to Council, namely a plan to reduce the number of apartments from 305 to 270.

Richard Munger, a partner with North American Properties, said the $55 million investment would be designed with ground-floor medical offices, and retail and restaurants fronting the main streets of the development.

For the living spaces, neighbors should expect a gated community with “condo quality” apartments, and amenities such as a resort style pool, fitness center, club room and business center.

The proposed pocket park also almost doubles the required 20 percent open space standard set forth by the city’s code, Munger added.

Medical employees who choose to reside in the new development would be given financial incentives through a company program, Munger stated.

Council members moved to table the request after hearing from representatives of North American Properties, Emory Saint Joseph’s and residents from both Sandy Springs and Brookhaven.

One resident, Eric Johnson, lamented the current state of traffic of the area, commonly referred to Pill Hill. Navigating the area, he said, is a “pill” to accomplish.

He encouraged the council to either defer the decision until a solution is discovered to deal with lack of connectivity in the area or to deny the request altogether.

While resident Bill Gannon referred to the project as a “good” one, he also encouraged the city to defer the case back to the Planning Commission so they’d have a chance to review the latest changes to North American Properties’ plans.

Councilman Tibby DeJulio proposed a motion to defer action until the Council’s Dec. 15 meeting, which would give the commission time to review the case at its Nov. 19 meeting. DeJulio said he and former Mayor Eva Galambos have always talked about ways to get traffic in and out of Pill Hill as efficiently as possible.

He also said he mentioned this desire to Yvonne Williams, president and CEO of the Perimeter Community Improvement Districts, a couple of years ago.

DeJulio stated he reached out to Williams on Tuesday, and was informed that the PCIDs is in the midst of a study that would proposed extending the flyover bridge from Perimeter Center Parkway cross Interstate 285 at Lake Hearn Drive to Johnson Ferry Road.

The council member said the city can expect those plans to be revealed sometime in November.

Mayor Rusty Paul, who informed the audience he normally doesn’t weigh in zoning issues such as this, told the audience that what keeps him up at night is a situation in which the city has a disaster, and is unable to transport people to the hospitals in the area for treatment.

Paul said he met with officials from the three hospitals, and stated they are working with the city to minimize the traffic footprint in Pill Hill.

“We all recognize that traffic in that area is not just an aggravation,” he said. “It’s a life threatening situation.”

One of those options would be to place a new road in one of the adjacent neighborhoods, Paul stated. If residents are willing to support that, he told them to “put that in your emails that we’ve been getting.”

The mayor also took the time to address the overwhelming criticism the city of Sandy Springs has received from its neighbors who reside in Brookhaven. Paul said he’s never been accused of ”criminality,” corruption or being in the ”pockets of developers.”

“We have a due process, that by law that we have to go through, and that’s what precisely what we are doing,” he said. “And if you’re going to engage in the process, learn what that process means rather than making accusations about people’s ethics when you talk to us. Our own folks haven’t talked to us the way some of the folks in Brookhaven have talked to us. And it doesn’t help your cause. We are much more interested in the facts than allegations.”

---

Image via Shutterstock