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Walgreens rezoning postponed; planning staff urges denial

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com

The public hearing on a commercial rezoning request for Christ Our Shepherd Lutheran Church in Peachtree City was tabled Monday night at the request of church officials.

The church wants the property rezoned from office-institutional to limited use commercial so it can sell the land to a developer for a Walgreens drug store at the corner of Ga. Highway 54 and Peachtree Parkway.

City Planner David Rast, in a memo to the planning commission, recommends the rezoning be denied, in part because the development “is not consistent with the goals and objectives adopted as a part of the city’s comprehensive plan and land use plan.”

“It does not appear the proposed use is consistent with the village plan originally adopted for the Glenloch Village retail center,” Rast also wrote.

The current church building could be developed to a use permitted under the current office-institutional zoning for the site, Rast added.

Church officials say they have outgrown the site and need more space to grow its ministry programs for the community. Currently, many churchgoers park across the parkway at the Peachtree Crossing shopping center when they come for worship services or other events.

The church wants the limited use commercial rezoning because it can place more restrictions on the site than if the site were zoned general commercial.

In addition to improved buffering for The Highlands subdivision next door, the church has negotiated with Walgreens to forbid the property from being used for a gas station, car wash, auto maintenance facility, convenience store, restaurant or liquor store.

The submitted plans also include a separate office building, but an occupant for that building has not been identified yet.

Although church representatives said the parcel has previously been zoned commercial, no such zoning has been found in city records. The original zoning was agricultural reserve until a 1981 rezoning to the office-institutional use.

The lack of a previous commercial zoning for the property could hurt the church’s chance for the commercial rezoning. Working in the church’s favor, however, is the commercial prominence at two other corners of the intersection: one features the Peachtree Crossings shopping center and the other features an Eckerd drug store and a Ruby Tuesday’s restaurant.

The church parcel is currently earmarked for community service on the city’s land use plan.

Although the church has been accused of profiteering in its wishes to sell the property, church representatives noted that the purchase priced of $3.5 million “is consistent” with the $3.1 million valuation of the property by county tax officials.

Although there have been informal discussions with other churches about purchasing the property, they too want parcels with more acreage than the current site, said Pastor John Weber, who has been with the church since its inception.

Although the site would be developed by Commercial Net Lease Realty, it will ultimately be owned by Walgreens itself, company officials said.

The Planning Commission will ultimately vote whether to recommend the rezoning be approved or denied. The City Council has the final say on the matter.