Sandy Springs Leaders Approve Kroger Expansion

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The Kroger grocery store located on the southern edge of Sandy Springs will soon get a considerable makeover.

The Sandy Springs City Council last week approved a request from the company to rezone property at 4920 Roswell Road and 115 Belle Isle Road from R-4 (single family residential), C-1 (community business) and unzoned to C-1.

The application proposes to expand the existing Fountain Oaks Kroger grocery store by 23,520 square feet, which the city stipulates is a 38-percent increase from the current 61,181 square feet on the north side of the building to create an 84,701-square-foot upgraded store.

Specifically, plans call for the construction of 14,479 square feet of new space and to demolish 9,041 square feet of adjacent shops, which will be rebuilt as part of the expansion of the building.

The parcel also includes a small residential development owned by the Fulton County Housing Authority that the company also plans to purchase.

Woody Galloway, an attorney representing the applicant, said the building will be demolished and initially used for a staging area for construction and subsequently turned into parking for the store, he added.

The request was unanimously approved by the Council provided that the developer plants 30 ligustrums along the cul-de-sac on the southwest edge of the property, a condition that came at the request of residents who live along Long Island Terrace, Galloway added.

Councilman Andy Bauman, whose district includes the Fountain Oaks Kroger, said a lot of residents are excited to get a “good quality” grocery store in that part of the city, which he said has been underserved for a while in various areas.

With that in mind, Bauman encouraged Kroger to give the residents who live in the housing units ample notice and time to find new homes. Those residents, he added, have lived there for a long time, and it’s imperative that Kroger and Fulton County make sure those citizens are “treated in a fair and dignified way.”

“I really hope that that’s the case,” he added.

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