Woodstock Commission: Deny Kia Dealership Proposal

The Woodstock Planning Commission last week voted to recommend denial of a proposal to build a Kia dealership near the Outlet Shoppes at Atlanta.

The commission on Thursday, Oct. 2 unanimously voted to recommend denial of a request from Carriage Woodstock, LLC to rezone 5.95 acres on the northside of Ridgewalk Parkway west of Interstate 575 to accommodate its project.

The Woodstock City Council will consider the case during its meeting at 7 p.m. Oct. 27 at the Chambers.

The developer is requesting the city to rezone the land from form-based code infill village to special district transect with nine variances to accommodate their proposal.

A proposed site plan for the land — owned by Settendown Partnership LLC — shows the entire development would be 41,000 square feet, which would include a 39,000 square feet building and a 2,500-square-foot car wash. It also shows a total of 490 spaces for vehicles. Broken down, that would include 18 vehicles that could be stored in an 18,000-square-foot sales area, 21 bays to service the same amount of vehicles, a car plaza reserved for 15 vehicles and storage for 436 vehicles.

Additional vehicle storage will be provided in a parking deck and surface lot located on the north end of the property. The top level of the proposed deck will be at the level of street grade, and this storage area will be screened from view with landscape materials.

Settendown Partnership earlier this year was hit with a $52,500 fine by the city of Woodstock for removing 37 trees from property.

Thirty-seven protected trees were cut down in December on property owned by the company. Twenty-eight trees ranging in 10 inches to 12 inches in diameter and 9 trees between 13 and 16 inches in diameter were removed.

The fine for removing any tree ranging in 10 to 12 inches is $1,200 and is $2,100 for the removal of trees ranging from 13 to 16 inches in diameter, garnering the company a $52,500 fine. Woodstock’s Tree Preservation Ordinance outlines the payment of fines for the removal of ”protected or specimen” trees without a city-issued permit.

The trees were removed without the submission of any plans or permits to the the city, Woodstock Community Development Director Jessica Guinn told the City Council in July. A certified arborist under contract with the city made a site inspection in December and concluded that 37 trees were removed from the property.

The company appealed the ruling during the City Council’s July 28 meeting, but the appeal was tabled at that time and again during the Aug. 25 meeting to give City Attorney Eldon Basham more time to review the appeal.